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.

When Whitfield County's bridges were built

130 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

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).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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 Poor
Meriwether County 135 14.8%
Gordon County 133 1.5%
Lowndes County 130 1.5%
Whitfield County (this page) 130 1.5%
Coffee County 126 0.8%
Worth County 125 0%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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)

SR 3 - US 41 (SBL)

Good

Over: DROWNING BEAR CREEK

4 MI SE OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1993 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 9,420

BROOKER ROAD

Good

Over: MILL CREEK

2.5 MI EAST OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1996 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,400

OLD FIELD ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE SWAMP CREEK

6.3 MI SW OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1997 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 460

SAM LOVE ROAD

Good

Over: MILL CREEK

3.5 MI NW OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1997 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 120

LAKE KATHERINE RD

Good

Over: TANYARD CREEK TRIB

1 MI E OF TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 2002 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 910

MILL CREEK ROAD

Good

Over: MILL CREEK

4.6 MI S.W.OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 2004 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,740

HICKORY ROAD

Good

Over: JOBS CREEK

6.3 MI S OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 2004 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 80

SCOTT ROAD

Good

Over: TIGER CREEK

3 MI SW OF COHUTTA, Whitfield, GA

Built 2016 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 90

SR 201

Good

Over: EAST CHICKAMAUGA CREEK

6.4 MI W OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1986 Load: 34.4 t ADT: 3,090

TIBBS BRIDGE ROAD

Good

Over: COAHULLA CREEK

3 MI E OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1975 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 4,880

OLD COTTONWOOD M

Good

Over: VERNON CREEK

IN WEST TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1989 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 150

HOSPITAL ACCESS RD

Good

Over: CSX RAILROAD

JUST OUT OF N. DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1985 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 9,540

SR 71

Good

Over: COAHULLA CREEK TRIB

4.9 MI NE OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1933 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 21,100

SR 71

Good

Over: KENYON CREEK

8.1 MI N OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1933 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 12,900

SR 71

Good

Over: PITNER BRANCH

2.5 MI NE OF VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1933 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 7,230

US 41/ SR 3

Good

Over: HAIG MILL CREEK

JUST N OF DALTON ON BYPAS, Whitfield, GA

Built 1985 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 31,600

I-75

Good

Over: SR 3 (US 41)

IN NW DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 2017 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 78,300

SR 71

Good

Over: COAHULLA CREEK TRIB

4.9 MI NE OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1933 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 21,100

NANCE SPRINGS ROAD

Good

Over: CONASAUGA RIVER TRIB.

IN SE CORNER OF WHITFIELD, Whitfield, GA

Built 2017 Load: 45.3 t ADT: 780

HOSPITAL ACCESS RD

Good

Over: MILL CREEK

JUST OUT OF N. DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1985 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 9,540

CARBONDALE ROAD

Good

Over: I-75

8.3 MI S OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 2018 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 9,510

SR 201

Good

Over: TANYARD CREEK

IN NE TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 2022 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 3,030

SR 71

Good

Over: WILSON CREEK

3.8 MI N OF VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 2001 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 7,230

US 41

Good

Over: TANYARD CREEK

IN SOUTH TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1987 Load: 58.9 t ADT: 5,900

SR 71

Good

Over: MILLS CREEK

5.8 MI N OF VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1992 Load: 80.7 t ADT: 5,260

US 41

Good

Over: MILL CREEK TRIB

IN NW DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 1925 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 31,600

I-75 NBL OFF RAMP

Good

Over: TANYARD CREEK TRIB

1 MI E OF TUNNEL HILL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1963 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 3,250

US 41

Good

Over: LITTLE SWAMP CREEK

6.5 MI S OF DALTON, Whitfield, GA

Built 2017 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 7,140

NANCE SPRINGS CIR.

Poor

Over: CONASAUGA RIVER TRIB.

IN SE CORNER OF WHITFIELD, Whitfield, GA

Built 1923 Load: 4.5 t ADT: 30

McGAUGHEY CHAPEL R

Poor

Over: COAHULLA CREEK

3 MI NE OF VARNELL, Whitfield, GA

Built 1978 Load: 9.9 t ADT: 1,560

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.