County profile · official public datasets

Frederick County, MD

486 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.2% rated Good, 54.1% Fair, 2.7% Poor.

486
Public bridges
43.2%
Good condition
2.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Frederick County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 25%
lowest Poor share in state
2.7%
Poor-condition share
486
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.

Frederick County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Frederick County ranks #6 of 24 Maryland counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.7%). Frederick County, Maryland contains 486 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.2% are rated “Good,” 54.1% “Fair,” and 2.7% “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

486

Public highway bridges in Frederick County

Good condition

43.2%

210 of 486 rated 7-9

Fair condition

54.1%

263 of 486 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.7%

13 of 486 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#6 of 24

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

Condition distribution

Share of 486 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
43.2% (210)
Fair
54.1% (263)
Poor
2.7% (13)

Frederick County's Poor-condition bridges carry 17,033 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,310 crossings a day against 7,809 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 486 of 486 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

47.5% of Frederick County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

231 of the 486 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 43.2% 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 39.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SHOOKSTOWN ROAD over CARROLL CREEK, built 1911, carries 6,750 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 13-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 17,033 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Frederick County's bridges were built

486 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 104 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the Maryland average (1972).

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

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

The 5 Maryland counties nearest Frederick County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Frederick County and the 5 Maryland counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Prince George's County 576 3.1%
Montgomery County 515 4.9%
Frederick County (this page) 486 2.7%
Anne Arundel County 389 1.5%
Baltimore city County 374 8.6%
Howard County 309 5.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MD (486 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 486 Good 210 Fair 263 Poor 13

All bridges (486)

SPRING RIDGE PRKWY

Good

Over: LONG BRANCH

AT MD 144 INTERSECTION, Frederick, MD

Built 1991 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 5,407

RIDGEFIELD DRIVE

Good

Over: LONG BRANCH

JUST NORTH OF MD 144, Frederick, MD

Built 1991 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,707

BENTZEL ROAD

Good

Over: BRANCH OF FRIENDS CREEK

175 FROM MD RTE 550, Frederick, MD

Built 1980 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 126

CASH SMITH ROAD

Good

Over: ISRAEL CREEK

0.25 MI N OF COPPERMINE R, Frederick, MD

Built 1982 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 149

LANDER ROAD

Good

Over: LANDER BRANCH

0.75 MI W OF MD RTE 464, Frederick, MD

Built 1982 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 74

OLD MIDDLETOWN RD

Good

Over: LEWIS MILL BRANCH

1.62 MI N OF MD RTE 180, Frederick, MD

Built 1962 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,532

KELBAUGH ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE OWENS CREEK

AT SMITH ROAD INTERSECTN, Frederick, MD

Built 1974 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 392

WARD KLINE ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE CATOCTIN CREEK

JUST EAST OF EASTERDAY RD, Frederick, MD

Built 1981 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 138

EASTERDAY ROAD

Good

Over: LITTLE CATOCTIN CREEK

1.25 MI N OF US RTE 40, Frederick, MD

Built 1982 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 196

MONUMENT ROAD

Good

Over: GRINDSTONE RUN

0.87 MI WEST OF MD 17, Frederick, MD

Built 1977 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 421

MOUNT TABOR ROAD

Good

Over: TRIB. OF CATOCTIN CREEK

0.2 MI N OF MILT SUMMERS, Frederick, MD

Built 1995 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 220

MONUMENT ROAD

Good

Over: GRINDSTONE RUN

1.35 MI WEST OF MD 17, Frederick, MD

Built 1977 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 311

GOOD INTENT ROAD

Good

Over: BEAVER DAM CREEK

AT WACHTER RD INTERSECTN, Frederick, MD

Built 1972 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 616

BUNKER HILL ROAD

Good

Over: BEAVER DAM CREEK

AT WACHTER RD INTERSECTN, Frederick, MD

Built 1962 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 212

WOODVILLE ROAD

Good

Over: SOUTH FORK LINGANORE CRK

0.5 MI S OF HARRISVILLE R, Frederick, MD

Built 1972 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 909

MARKER ROAD

Good

Over: MIDDLE CREEK

0.2 MI N OF BIDLE ROAD, Frederick, MD

Built 2008 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 246

PICNIC WOODS ROAD

Good

Over: BROAD RUN

0.5 MI N OF MD RTE 17, Frederick, MD

Built 1974 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 466

PICNIC WOODS ROAD

Good

Over: BROAD RUN

0.4 MI S OF MD RTE 17, Frederick, MD

Built 1974 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 403

CAP STINE ROAD

Good

Over: TUSCARORA CREEK

0.2 MI NE OF MANOR WOODS, Frederick, MD

Built 1985 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 451

WYE CREEK DRIVE

Good

Over: TRIBUTARY OF RENN

0.3 MI NORTH OF MD RT 180, Frederick, MD

Built 1960 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 50

MOUNT PHILLIP ROAD

Good

Over: BALLENGER CREEK

1 MI. SW OF OLD CAMP ROAD, Frederick, MD

Built 1975 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 1,913

WORMANS MILL COURT

Good

Over: TRIBUTARY NO. 10

700 FEET NW OF MD 355, Frederick, MD

Built 1986 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 1,615

MONOCACY BOULEVARD

Good

Over: PARK BRANCH

2.0 MI EAST OF MD 355, Frederick, MD

Built 2018 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 11,825

POFFENBERGER ROAD

Poor

Over: CATOCTIN CREEK

1.1 MILES EAST OF MD 383, Frederick, MD

Built 1878 Load: 11.8 t ADT: 375

FAIRVIEW AVENUE

Poor

Over: CARROLL CREEK

0.2 MI SOUTH OF US 15, Frederick, MD

Built 1963 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 2,674

OLD MILL ROAD

Poor

Over: MARYLAND MIDLAND RAILROA

1000 FEET SOUTH OF MD 77, Frederick, MD

Built 1975 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 97

FREDERICK ROAD

Poor

Over: HUNTING CREEK

0.2 MI SW OF MD 77, Frederick, MD

Built 1928 Load: 21.3 t ADT: 1,163

BLACK ANKLE ROAD

Poor

Over: TALBOT BRANCH

AT TALBOT RUN ROAD INTERS, Frederick, MD

Built 1979 Load: 33.1 t ADT: 278

HESSONG BRIDGE RD

Poor

Over: FISHING CREEK

AT POWELL RD INT, Frederick, MD

Built 1931 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 761

SHOOKSTOWN ROAD

Poor

Over: CARROLL CREEK

0.4 MI N. OF US 15 EXIT 7, Frederick, MD

Built 1911 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 6,750

OPOSSUMTOWN PIKE

Poor

Over: BIG TUSCARORA CREEK

AT SUNDAYS LANE INT, Frederick, MD

Built 1988 Load: 48.1 t ADT: 1,028

OLD KILN ROAD

Poor

Over: LITTLE OWENS CREEK

0.06 MI EAST OF RODDY RD, Frederick, MD

Built 1975 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 338

HORNETS NEST ROAD

Poor

Over: FRIENDS CREEK

2.0 MILES W OF RIFFLE RD, Frederick, MD

Built 1981 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 179

LILY PONS ROAD

Poor

Over: LOCUST RUN

0.07 MI EAST OF MD RTE 85, Frederick, MD

Built 1977 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 394

LYNN BURKE ROAD

Poor

Over: CHURCH BRANCH

0.1 MI N OF WELLER ROAD, Frederick, MD

Built 1965 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 2,175

BRETHREN CHURCH RD

Poor

Over: CATOCTIN CREEK

0.75 MI EAST OF MD 17, Frederick, MD

Built 1986 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 821

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.