County profile · official public datasets

Whitfield County, GA

130 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53.8% rated Good, 44.6% Fair, 1.5% Poor.

130
Public bridges: 53.8%
Good condition: 1.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Whitfield County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

101st
of 159 on Poor share: 1.5%
Poor-condition share: 130
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Whitfield County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Whitfield County ranks #101 of 159 Georgia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Whitfield County, Georgia contains 130 public highway bridges. Roughly 53.8% are rated “Good,” 44.6% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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

130

Public highway bridges in Whitfield County

Good condition

53.8%

70 of 130 rated 7-9

Fair condition

44.6%

58 of 130 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.5%

2 of 130 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#101 of 159

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

Condition distribution

Share of 130 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

53.8% (70)

Fair

44.6% (58)

Poor

1.5% (2)

Whitfield County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,590 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 795 crossings a day against 12,252 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 130 of 130 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.8% of Whitfield County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

66 of the 130 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 53.8% 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 98.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

McGAUGHEY CHAPEL R over COAHULLA CREEK, built 1978, carries 1,560 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 1,590 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

8
1930s

7
1940s

4
1950s

13
1960s

24
1970s

22
1980s

19
1990s

16
2000s

10
2010s

6
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Georgia average (1977).

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

The 5 Georgia counties nearest Whitfield County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Whitfield County and the 5 Georgia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Meriwether County	135	37%	48.1%	14.8%	1972
Gordon County	133	68.4%	30.1%	1.5%	1979
Lowndes County	130	83.8%	14.6%	1.5%	1981
Whitfield County (this page)	130	53.8%	44.6%	1.5%	1973
Coffee County	126	86.5%	12.7%	0.8%	1973
Worth County	125	88%	12%	0%	1973

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 Whitfield 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 Whitfield County, both outside Georgia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside GA (130 bridges here).

Kit Carson County, CO · 130 bridges
Bay County, FL · 130 bridges
Monroe County, IA · 130 bridges
Chautauqua County, KS · 130 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside GA (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 130 Good 70 Fair 58 Poor 2

All bridges (130)

Sort:

OLD DALTON/CLEVELA

Fair

Over: MILLS CREEK

1.9 MI NE OF COHUTTA, Whitfield, GA

Built 1988 Load: 75.2 t ADT: 160

CASCADE DRIVE

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK TRIB

IN NW DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1960 Load: 78.9 t ADT: 804

MAIN STREET

Fair

Over: KENYON CREEK

IN SOUTH EAST VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1950 Load: 94.3 t ADT: 1,340

I-75

Fair

Over: TANYARD CREEK TRIB

1 MI E OF TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1963 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 80,000

I-75 SBL ON RAMP

Fair

Over: TANYARD CREEK TRIB

1 MI E OF TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1963 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,970

MEERS ROAD

Fair

Over: KENYON CREEK

1 MI E OF VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1978 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 560

MOUNTAIN VIEW RD.

Fair

Over: TANYARD CREEK

IN EAST TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1970 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 310

DUG GAP ROAD

Fair

Over: DROWNING BEAR CREEK

2.5 MI SW OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Whitfield County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Whitfield County's Poor-condition bridges carry 1,590 vehicle crossings a day

50.8% of Whitfield County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 98.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Whitfield 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 (130)

OLD DALTON/CLEVELA

CASCADE DRIVE

MAIN STREET

I-75

I-75 SBL ON RAMP

MEERS ROAD

MOUNTAIN VIEW RD.

DUG GAP ROAD

GORDON STREET

WILLOWDALE ROAD

REDWINE COVE ROAD

CHATTANOOGA ST

US 41/ SR 3

SR 2

SR 52 - US 76 (EBL

I-75

TIBBS BRIDGE ROAD

HOPEWELL CH ROAD

DUNNAGAN ROAD

SR 3 - US 41 (NBL)

OLD US 41

US 41 / SR3

SR 71

OLD RINGOLD ROAD

HAMILTON STREET

HAMILTON STREET

JAMES STREET

W. LAKESHORE DRIVE

MILL CREEK ROAD

US 41 SR 3

VETERANS MEM DRIVE

SR 3 - US 41 (SBL)

US 41/ SR 3

WITHEROW BRIDGE RD

SR 52 - US 76 (EBL

I-75

US 41/ SR 3

US 41/ SR 3

SR 3 CONN.

OLD SR 3

SR 3 CONN.

WALNUT AVE.

SR - 52

SR 201

ABUTMENT ROAD

ABUTMENT ROAD

ANTIOCH ROAD

SR - 3 US 41/ 76

LOWER KING BR. RD

SR 3 - US 41 (NBL)

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