County profile · official public datasets

Caroline County, MD

70 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.1% rated Good, 64.3% Fair, 8.6% Poor.

70
Public bridges
27.1%
Good condition
8.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

22nd
of 24 on Poor share
8.6%
Poor-condition share
70
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.

Caroline County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Caroline County ranks #22 of 24 Maryland counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.6%). Caroline County, Maryland contains 70 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.1% are rated “Good,” 64.3% “Fair,” and 8.6% “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

70

Public highway bridges in Caroline County

Good condition

27.1%

19 of 70 rated 7-9

Fair condition

64.3%

45 of 70 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.6%

6 of 70 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#22 of 24

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

Condition distribution

Share of 70 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
27.1% (19)
Fair
64.3% (45)
Poor
8.6% (6)

Caroline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,816 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 469 crossings a day against 3,333 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 70 of 70 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.7% of Caroline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

32 of the 70 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 27.1% 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 36% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FRAZIER NECK ROAD over LITTLE CREEK, built 1994, carries 1,015 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,816 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Caroline County's bridges were built

70 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 13 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Maryland average (1972).

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

How Caroline County compares with Maryland's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Maryland counties nearest Caroline County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 23 Maryland counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Caroline County and the 5 Maryland counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Charles County 94 8.5%
Queen Anne's County 88 1.1%
Worcester County 82 2.4%
Caroline County (this page) 70 8.6%
St. Mary's County 50 4%
Dorchester County 47 10.6%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MD (70 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 70 Good 19 Fair 45 Poor 6

All bridges (70)

MD 313

Good

Over: MASONS BRANCH

ON QUEEN ANNES CO LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 2007 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 2,530

MD 404

Good

Over: TUCKAHOE CREEK

ON QUEEN ANNES CO LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 2016 Load: 43.1 t ADT: 20,442

MD 328

Good

Over: TUCKAHOE CREEK

ON TALBOT CO LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 2012 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 6,500

GARLAND ROAD

Good

Over: GARLAND LAKE

0.5 MILES NORTH OF MD 317, Caroline, MD

Built 2017 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 1,452

MASON BRANCH ROAD

Good

Over: MASON BRANCH

ON QUEEN ANNES CO LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 1910 Load: 48.1 t ADT: 1,277

RIVER BRIDGE ROAD

Good

Over: TIDY ISLAND CREEK

0.24 MI SW OF DE LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 2007 Load: 48.5 t ADT: 213

LEGION ROAD

Good

Over: WATTS CREEK

0.5 MI SE OF DENTON, Caroline, MD

Built 2011 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 1,099

HOLLY ROAD

Good

Over: FORGE BRANCH

0.4 MI NE OF GREENSBORO, Caroline, MD

Built 1996 Load: 76.2 t ADT: 468

BLADES ROAD

Good

Over: HUNTING CREEK

CAROLINE - DOR. CO LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 2005 Load: 82.5 t ADT: 568

MD 287

Good

Over: BROADWAY BRANCH

0.465 M W OF JACKSON LANE, Caroline, MD

Built 1999 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,021

STAFFORD ROAD

Good

Over: TIDY ISLAND CREEK

.05 MI W OF DELAWARE LINE, Caroline, MD

Built 1997 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 67

WOODYARD ROAD

Good

Over: LONG MARSH DITCH

1.6 MI S OF MD 302, Caroline, MD

Built 1988 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 345

EVELAND ROAD

Good

Over: PINEY BRANCH

3 MILES NORTH OF MD 404, Caroline, MD

Built 1975 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 635

TAYLOR ROAD

Good

Over: LONG MARSH DITCH

2 MILES EAST OF MD 313, Caroline, MD

Built 2000 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 184

SMITHVILLE ROAD

Poor

Over: SULLIVAN BRANCH

2.3 MI NE OF FEDERALSBURG, Caroline, MD

Built 1946 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 545

GREGG ROAD

Poor

Over: GAREY MILL POND BRANCH

2.5 MILES NORTH OF MD 317, Caroline, MD

Built 1950 Load: 17.7 t ADT: 40

BLOOMERY ROAD

Poor

Over: MARSHYHOPE CREEK

1.19 MILES SW OF DELAWARE, Caroline, MD

Built 1951 Load: 18.6 t ADT: 540

LONG SWAMP ROAD

Poor

Over: SULLIVAN BRANCH

1.3 MI SE OF AGNER, Caroline, MD

Built 1953 Load: 19.5 t ADT: 106

DOUBLE HILL ROAD

Poor

Over: WATTS CREEK

0.47 MI NE OF MD 404, Caroline, MD

Built 1913 Load: 22.2 t ADT: 570

FRAZIER NECK ROAD

Poor

Over: LITTLE CREEK

0.6 MILES SOUTH OF MD 331, Caroline, MD

Built 1994 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 1,015

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.