Total bridges
44
Public highway bridges in Kent County
County profile · official public datasets
Kent County, MD
44 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 11.4% rated Good, 84.1% Fair, 4.5% Poor.
- 44
- Public bridges
- 11.4%
- Good condition
- 4.5%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Kent County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 46%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 4.5%
- Poor-condition share
- 44
- public highway bridges
- 1957
- 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.
Kent County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Kent County ranks #11 of 24 Maryland counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.5%). Kent County, Maryland contains 44 public highway bridges. Roughly 11.4% are rated “Good,” 84.1% “Fair,” and 4.5% “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.
Good condition
11.4%
5 of 44 rated 7-9
Fair condition
84.1%
37 of 44 rated 5-6
Poor condition
4.5%
2 of 44 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#11 of 24
Among Maryland counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 44 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 11.4% (5)
Fair 84.1% (37)
Poor 4.5% (2)
Kent County's Poor-condition bridges carry 530 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 265 crossings a day against 2,492 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 44 of 44 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
70.5% of Kent County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
31 of the 44 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 11.4% 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 50% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
MORGNEC ROAD over TRIB TO CHESTER RIVER, built 1928, carries 265 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 530 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Kent County's bridges were built
44 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 1
1910–1919
1 bridges
- 1920s
1920–1929
6 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
5 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
6 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
8 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
5 bridges
- 1970s 3
1970–1979
3 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
4 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
5 bridges
- 2000s 1
2000–2009
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 8 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1957, 15 years older than the Maryland average of 1972.
How Kent County compares with Maryland's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Maryland counties nearest Kent County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.5% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1957 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 18 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 23 Maryland counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Mary's County | 50 | 26% | 70% | 4% | 1968 |
| Dorchester County | 47 | 14.9% | 74.5% | 10.6% | 1980 |
| Somerset County | 46 | 19.6% | 73.9% | 6.5% | 1975 |
| Kent County (this page) | 44 | 11.4% | 84.1% | 4.5% | 1957 |
| Talbot County | 42 | 21.4% | 76.2% | 2.4% | 1967 |
| Calvert County | 33 | 45.5% | 54.5% | 0% | 1985 |
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 Kent 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 Kent County, both outside Maryland so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MD (44 bridges here).
- Archuleta County, CO · 44 bridges
- Bacon County, GA · 44 bridges
- Pulaski County, GA · 44 bridges
- Rockdale County, GA · 44 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MD (1957 here).
- Essex County, MA · avg 1957 · 395 bridges
- Labette County, KS · avg 1957 · 349 bridges
- Greenwood County, KS · avg 1957 · 235 bridges
- Greer County, OK · avg 1957 · 230 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (44)
MD 674
FairOver: GRAYS INN CREEK
0.25 MILE WEST OF MD 20, Kent, MD
Built 1977 Load: 16.8 t ADT: 1,230
MD 213
FairOver: BR OF MORGAN CREEK
0.3 M N OF BIG WOOD ROAD, Kent, MD
Built 1955 Load: 17.7 t ADT: 3,381
WALNUT TREE ROAD
FairOver: CYPRESS BRANCH
0.8 MI NW OF BIG STONE RD, Kent, MD
Built 1968 Load: 20.4 t ADT: 266
MD 290
FairOver: MILL CREEK
0.60 MILE NORTH OF MD 213, Kent, MD
Built 1947 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 2,445
MD 20
FairOver: RADCLIFF CREEK
0.06 MILE EAST OF MD 514, Kent, MD
Built 1950 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 6,850
MD 290
FairOver: CHESTER RIVER
ON QUEEN ANNES CO LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1951 Load: 25.8 t ADT: 2,011
MD 291
FairOver: CYPRESS BRANCH
0.24 MILE EAST OF MD 313, Kent, MD
Built 1928 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 1,841
MD 20
FairOver: FANNEL BRANCH
0.85 MILE EAST OF MD 446, Kent, MD
Built 1949 Load: 26.8 t ADT: 7,420
MD 446
FairOver: MILL POND CREEK
0.80 MILE SOUTH OF MD 20, Kent, MD
Built 1929 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 610
MD 213
FairOver: CHESTER RIVER
ON QUEEN ANNES CO LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1930 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 13,835
MD 290
FairOver: JACOBS CREEK
0.23 MILE SOUTH OF US 301, Kent, MD
Built 1947 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 2,461
MD 290
FairOver: SWANTOWN CREEK
1.91 MILES S OF US 301, Kent, MD
Built 1947 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 2,461
MD 213
FairOver: SASSAFRAS RIVER
ON CECIL COUNTY LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1987 Load: 30.4 t ADT: 5,308
MD 291
FairOver: MORGAN CREEK
1.83 MILES EAST OF MD 213, Kent, MD
Built 1933 Load: 31.3 t ADT: 6,235
MD 20
FairOver: SHIPYARD CREEK
1.20 MILES WEST OF MD 21, Kent, MD
Built 1920 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,590
MD 289
FairOver: RADCLIFF CREEK
0.82 MILE SOUTH OF MD 213, Kent, MD
Built 1948 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,563
MD 299
FairOver: HERRING BRANCH
0.46 M S OF CECIL CO LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1913 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 753
MD 289
FairOver: SPILLWAY OF CHESTER RIVE
0.12 M S OF COLLINS AVE, Kent, MD
Built 1948 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 4,023
BIG STONE ROAD
FairOver: CYPRESS BRANCH
0.4 MI S OF MD RTE 330, Kent, MD
Built 1962 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 265
US 301 NB
FairOver: SASSAFRAS RIVER
ON CECIL COUNTY LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1955 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 9,710
MD 299
FairOver: JACOBS CREEK
1.27 MILES S OF MD 290, Kent, MD
Built 1938 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 1,272
MD 445
FairOver: SWAN CREEK
2.92 MILES SOUTH OF MD 21, Kent, MD
Built 1929 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 780
KENNEDYVILLE ROAD
FairOver: MORGAN CREEK
0.8 MI SE OF MD RTE 213, Kent, MD
Built 2002 Load: 38.5 t ADT: 265
US 301 SB
FairOver: SASSAFRAS RIVER
ON CECIL COUNTY LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1955 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 9,710
MD 445
FairOver: SWAN CREEK
2.60 MILES SOUTH OF MD 21, Kent, MD
Built 1929 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 780
MD 291
FairOver: MILLS BRANCH
0.19 MILE WEST OF US 301, Kent, MD
Built 1934 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 2,961
US 301 SB
FairOver: MD 290
0.99 M S OF CECIL CO LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1962 Load: 43.1 t ADT: 9,710
RICAUDS BRANCH RD
FairOver: WEST FORK LANGFORD CREEK
0.1 MI E SANDY BOTTOM RD, Kent, MD
Built 1991 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 281
E. NECK ISLAND RD.
FairOver: EASTERN NECK NARROWS
EASTERN NECK ISLAND ROAD, Kent, MD
Built 1995 Load: 47.2 t ADT: 200
RILEYS NECK ROAD
FairOver: TRIB. TO CYPRESS CREEK
0.05 MI N OF MD RTE 291, Kent, MD
Built 1992 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 114
STILL POND CREEK R
FairOver: STILL POND CREEK
0.01MI S BESSICKS CRNR RD, Kent, MD
Built 1988 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 282
MD 299
FairOver: SASSAFRAS RIVER
ON CECIL COUNTY LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1932 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 1,022
LANGFORD ROAD
FairOver: MILL POND
0.01 MI W OF BRICES MILL, Kent, MD
Built 1989 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 265
LANGFORD ROAD
FairOver: EAST FORK LANGFORD CREEK
0.01 MI E OF BRICES MILL, Kent, MD
Built 1989 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 265
MD 213
FairOver: BR OF MORGAN CREEK
.507 MILE SOUTH OF MD 561, Kent, MD
Built 1955 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 4,632
MD 291
FairOver: BR OF CHESTER RIVER
0.5 MILE EAST OF MD 298, Kent, MD
Built 1962 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 3,571
MD 20
FairOver: TRIB TO GREYS INN CREEK
0.05 miles west of MD 674, Kent, MD
Built 1960 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 1,230
MD 213
GoodOver: WOODLAND CREEK
0.09 M S OF DAVES HILL RD, Kent, MD
Built 1950 Load: 31.7 t ADT: 4,211
US 301 NB
GoodOver: MD 290
0.99 M S OF CECIL CO LINE, Kent, MD
Built 1955 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 4,925
CHESTERVILLE BRIDG
GoodOver: MILLS BRANCH
0.4 MI W OF US 301, Kent, MD
Built 1997 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 266
MD 291
GoodOver: US 301
0.08 MILE WEST OF MD 701, Kent, MD
Built 1999 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 2,791
PERKINS HILL ROAD
GoodOver: MORGAN CREEK
0.3 MI SE OF MD RTE 213, Kent, MD
Built 1975 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 266
MORGNEC ROAD
PoorOver: TRIB TO CHESTER RIVER
0.2 MI E OF MD RTE 298, Kent, MD
Built 1928 Load: 25.4 t ADT: 265
LAMBSON FOREST ROA
PoorOver: MILLS BRANCH
1 MI SE OF MD RTE 290, Kent, MD
Built 1975 Load: 59.4 t ADT: 265
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.