County profile · official public datasets

Walker County, GA

149 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 51.7% rated Good, 46.3% Fair, 2% Poor.

149
Public bridges: 51.7%
Good condition: 2%
Poor condition

The verdict

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.

Walker County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

116th
of 159 on Poor share: 2%
Poor-condition share: 149
public highway bridges: 1971
avg year built

Poor is an FHWA condition category from the lowest applicable component rating (4 or below), not a live crossing-safety or closure decision. Rankings cover counties with at least five public highway bridges.

Walker County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Walker County ranks #116 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2%). Walker County, Georgia contains 149 public highway bridges. Roughly 51.7% are rated “Good,” 46.3% “Fair,” and 2% “Poor.” Poor means the lowest applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, or culvert rating is 4 or below on the 0–9 NBI scale. It is a condition category, not a live safety or closure decision.

Responsible agencies inspect covered bridges on risk-based intervals under current NBIS rules and submit inventory data to FHWA annually. The list below shows every NBI-tracked bridge in the county. Use the “Sort by” controls to change the ordering, and click any row for its reported inspection date, traffic count, and condition fields.

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory. See methodology for full definitions.

Total bridges

149

Public highway bridges in Walker County

Good condition

51.7%

77 of 149 rated 7-9

Fair condition

46.3%

69 of 149 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3 of 149 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#116 of 159

Among Georgia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 149 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

51.7% (77)

Fair

46.3% (69)

Poor

2% (3)

Walker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,960 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 653 crossings a day against 3,542 for a Good-condition one. A Poor rating is a condition category, not a closure or a live safety judgement; it means the lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below.

Computed over the 149 of 149 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

44.3% of Walker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

66 of the 149 bridges with a recorded construction year were built in 1974 or earlier. Age alone is not a defect: a well-maintained older bridge can rate Good, and 51.7% of this county's inventory does. Even so, this older cohort is the population from which future Poor ratings are drawn, which is why the age profile below matters alongside the condition split above.

Cutoff derives from the 2024 release year minus a 50-year design life. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

One structure carries 46.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

STRAIGHT CUT ROAD over CRAWFISH CREEK, built 1923, carries 920 vehicles a day, the most of any Poor-rated structure here. The county's Poor-condition exposure is concentrated rather than evenly spread, so the 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,960 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

11
1930s

12
1940s

8
1950s

17
1960s

5
1970s

33
1980s

32
1990s

4
2000s

16
2010s

4
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 33 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 6 years older than the Georgia average of 1977.

How Walker County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Walker County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 9 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 158 Georgia counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Walker County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cherokee County	164	84.8%	15.2%	0%	1985
Hall County	151	71.5%	27.2%	1.3%	1981
Walker County (this page)	149	51.7%	46.3%	2%	1971
Henry County	140	86.4%	12.1%	1.4%	1988
Bulloch County	139	80.6%	19.4%	0%	1974
Meriwether County	135	37%	48.1%	14.8%	1972

Each share is of that county's own total tracked bridges; peers are the counties with 5 or more bridges whose inventory size is closest to Walker County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Two NBI-derived peer sets for Walker County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (149 bridges here).

Tallapoosa County, AL · 149 bridges
Drew County, AR · 149 bridges
Madison County, AR · 149 bridges
Valley County, ID · 149 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.

All 149 Good 77 Fair 69 Poor 3

All bridges (149)

Sort:

BROCK ROAD

Fair

Over: W CHICKAMAUGA CRK TRIB

3.9 MI S OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1935 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 70

WEST VILLANOW ST.

Fair

Over: TOWN CREEK TRIB

IN WEST LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1959 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 2,150

BOSS ROAD

Fair

Over: W CHICKAMAUGA CRK TRIB

4.8 MI SW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1925 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 270

CENTER GROVE ROAD

Fair

Over: PEAVINE CREEK

6.5 MI NE OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1954 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 650

ANDREWS LANE

Fair

Over: WEST CHICKAMAUGA CREEK

7 MI WEST OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1974 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 300

SR 341

Fair

Over: CHATTANOOGA CREEK

4.6 MI NW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1986 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 2,970

GARRETTS CHAPEL RD

Fair

Over: CHATTANOOGA CREEK

4.2 MI W OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1934 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 580

SR 157

Fair

Over: ROCK CREEK

6.7 MI NW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1967 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,330

SR 193

Fair

Over: SHAW BRANCH

4.5 MI NW OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1952 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,090

SR 193

Fair

Over: CHATTANOOGA CREEK

5 MI SW OF ROSSVILLE, Walker, GA

Built 1984 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 8,980

BURNT MILL ROAD

Fair

Over: CHATTANOOGA CREEK

6 MI NW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1984 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 2,460

HOG JOWL ROAD

Fair

Over: HOG JOWL CREEK

7.4 MI W OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1978 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 110

SR 1 - US 27 (SBL)

Fair

Over: McFARLAND GAP ROAD

5 MI N CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 2001 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 5,640

PATTON STREET

Fair

Over: TOWN CREEK TRIB

IN LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1924 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 1,960

CAMP ROAD

Fair

Over: W CHICKAMAUGA CRK TRIB

6 MI SW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1981 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 780

BAKER-HEARN CIRCLE

Fair

Over: W CHICKAMAUGA CRK O/F

4 MI SW OF CHICKAMAUGA, Walker, GA

Built 1978 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 240

GRIFF JOHNSON ROAD

Fair

Over: EAST FORK LITTLE RIVER

13.6 MI SW OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Built 1978 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 30

SR 2

Fair

Over: NS RAILROAD

1.7 MI W OF FT OGLETHORPE, Walker, GA

Built 1985 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 13,900

US 27 SR 1

Fair

Over: DRY CREEK

2.1 MI S OF LAFAYETTE, Walker, GA

Walker County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Walker County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,960 vehicle crossings a day

44.3% of Walker County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 46.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Walker County compares with Georgia's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (149)

BROCK ROAD

WEST VILLANOW ST.

BOSS ROAD

CENTER GROVE ROAD

ANDREWS LANE

SR 341

GARRETTS CHAPEL RD

SR 157

SR 193

SR 193

BURNT MILL ROAD

HOG JOWL ROAD

SR 1 - US 27 (SBL)

PATTON STREET

CAMP ROAD

BAKER-HEARN CIRCLE

GRIFF JOHNSON ROAD

SR 2

US 27 SR 1

GLASS MILL ROAD

CONCORD ROAD

CANTRELL ROAD

OLD MINERAL SPG RD

FOSTER MILL ROAD

HARRISBURG ROAD

NICK-A-JACK LANE

LONGHOLLOW ROAD

SHIN BONE RIDGE RD

SR 2 OFF RAMP

SHIPP ROAD

OAKTON ROAD

CAPTAIN WOOD ROAD

SR 95

SR 136

SR 136

SR 136

SR 136

SR 136

SR 193

CHAMBERLAIN ROAD

CHAMBERLAIN ROAD

WEST ARMUCHEE RD

WEST ARMUCHEE RD

WEST ARMUCHEE RD

SR 337

CAPTAIN WOOD ROAD

McLEMORE STREET

COVE ROAD

COVE ROAD

SR 1 - US 27 (NBL)

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