Total bridges
46
Public highway bridges in Somerset County
County profile · official public datasets
Somerset County, MD
46 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 19.6% rated Good, 73.9% Fair, 6.5% Poor.
- 46
- Public bridges
- 19.6%
- Good condition
- 6.5%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Somerset County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.
- 19th
- of 24 on Poor share
- 6.5%
- Poor-condition share
- 46
- public highway bridges
- 1975
- 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.
Somerset County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Somerset County ranks #19 of 24 Maryland counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.5%). Somerset County, Maryland contains 46 public highway bridges. Roughly 19.6% are rated “Good,” 73.9% “Fair,” and 6.5% “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
19.6%
9 of 46 rated 7-9
Fair condition
73.9%
34 of 46 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.5%
3 of 46 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#19 of 24
Among Maryland counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 46 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 19.6% (9)
Fair 73.9% (34)
Poor 6.5% (3)
Somerset County's Poor-condition bridges carry 246 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 82 crossings a day against 2,102 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 46 of 46 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
37% of Somerset County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
17 of the 46 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 19.6% 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 57.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
MARUMSCO ROAD over MARUMSCO CREEK, built 1950, carries 141 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 246 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Somerset County's bridges were built
46 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1920s 1
1920–1929
1 bridges
- 1930s 2
1930–1939
2 bridges
- 1940s 1
1940–1949
1 bridges
- 1950s 4
1950–1959
4 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
6 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
11 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
10 bridges
- 1990s 3
1990–1999
3 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
5 bridges
- 2010s 2
2010–2019
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 11 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Maryland average (1972).
How Somerset County compares with Maryland's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Maryland counties nearest Somerset County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is in line with the group.
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 (this page) | 46 | 19.6% | 73.9% | 6.5% | 1975 |
| Kent County | 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 Somerset 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 Somerset County, both outside Maryland so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside MD (46 bridges here).
- Butts County, GA · 46 bridges
- Marion County, GA · 46 bridges
- Towns County, GA · 46 bridges
- Russell County, KY · 46 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside MD (1975 here).
- San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
- Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
- Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
- Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (34)
US 13 NB
FairOver: KINGS CREEK
0.18 MILE SOUTH OF MD 920, Somerset, MD
Built 1962 Load: 21.3 t ADT: 20,870
L.Q. POWELL ROAD
FairOver: EAST CREEK
0.5 MI W OF TULLS CORNER, Somerset, MD
Built 1975 Load: 23.6 t ADT: 210
OLD PRINCESS ANNE
FairOver: KINGS CREEK
2 MI S OF PRINCESS ANNE, Somerset, MD
Built 1950 Load: 27.7 t ADT: 648
US 13 NB
FairOver: JONES CREEK
0.38 MILE NORTH OF MD 920, Somerset, MD
Built 1934 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 20,870
SIGN POST ROAD
FairOver: BACK CREEK
1 MI N OF SAM BARNES ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1985 Load: 28.6 t ADT: 784
MD 675
FairOver: MANOKIN RIVER
0.08 MILE NORTH OF MD 918, Somerset, MD
Built 1921 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 7,131
STEWART NECK ROAD
FairOver: TAYLOR BRANCH
0.7 MI S OF PRINCESS ANNE, Somerset, MD
Built 1978 Load: 32.2 t ADT: 770
US 13 NB
FairOver: MANOKIN RIVER
0.05 MILE NORTH OF MD 363, Somerset, MD
Built 1958 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 22,370
FRENCHTOWN ROAD
FairOver: MINE CREEK
1.0 MI SE OF RUMBLEY, Somerset, MD
Built 1984 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 64
MD 413
FairOver: BIG ANNEMESSEX RIVER
2.59 MILES S OF MD 361, Somerset, MD
Built 1949 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 5,670
MD 363
FairOver: S BRANCH OF ROCK CREEK
0.21 M E OF EARL WEBST RD, Somerset, MD
Built 1977 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 2,245
US 13 NB
FairOver: BACK CREEK
0.19 MILE SOUTH OF MD 413, Somerset, MD
Built 1934 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 13,630
MD 363
FairOver: DAMES QUARTER CREEK
0.01 M E OF MESSICK ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1976 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 2,308
RUMBLEY ROAD
FairOver: TEAGUE CREEK
1.2 MI EAST OF MD 361, Somerset, MD
Built 1978 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 223
COVENTRY PARISH RO
FairOver: REHOBETH BRANCH
0.3 MI S OF REHOBETH ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1985 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 250
MILLARD LONG ROAD
FairOver: BACK CREEK
1 MI N OF MANOKIN ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1996 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 368
US 13 SB
FairOver: MANOKIN RIVER
0.05 MILE NORTH OF MD 363, Somerset, MD
Built 1964 Load: 40.4 t ADT: 22,370
MD 667
FairOver: REHOBETH BRANCH
4.96 MILES WEST OF US 13, Somerset, MD
Built 1976 Load: 40.4 t ADT: 2,999
US 13
FairOver: PASSERDYKE CREEK
ON WICOMICO CO LINE, Somerset, MD
Built 1900 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 27,695
MD 822
FairOver: LORETTO BRANCH
0.6 MILE EAST OF US 13, Somerset, MD
Built 2002 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 2,000
FRENCHTOWN ROAD
FairOver: GOOSE CREEK
1.2 MI SE OF RUMBLEY, Somerset, MD
Built 1983 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 64
MD 363
FairOver: E BRANCH OF ROCK CREEK
0.70 M W OF LONG POINT RD, Somerset, MD
Built 1976 Load: 41.3 t ADT: 2,245
MD 667
FairOver: MARUMSCO CREEK
0.47 M E OF LOVERS LANE, Somerset, MD
Built 1976 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 2,520
CATHELL ROAD
FairOver: PASSERDYKE CREEK
ON WICOMICO CO LINE, Somerset, MD
Built 1996 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 12
CASH CORNER ROAD
FairOver: JOHNSON CREEK
0.35 MILES EAST OF MD 667, Somerset, MD
Built 1998 Load: 45.8 t ADT: 356
WHITEHAVEN FERRY R
FairOver: WAUKIKI CREEK
1.36 MI W OF WIDGEON, Somerset, MD
Built 2002 Load: 48.1 t ADT: 404
HAINES POINT ROAD
FairOver: TRIB OF UPPER THOROFARE
AT HARRISON POINT ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1986 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 81
ARDEN STATION ROAD
FairOver: KINGS CREEK
0.3 MI S OF DUBLIN ROAD, Somerset, MD
Built 1982 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 327
US 13 SB
FairOver: NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR
0.40 MILE NORTH OF MD 364, Somerset, MD
Built 1965 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 16,470
US 13 NB
FairOver: NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR
0.40 MILE NORTH OF MD 364, Somerset, MD
Built 1957 Load: 62.1 t ADT: 16,470
MD 460
FairOver: LITTLE ANNEMESSEX RIVER
0.52 MILE WEST OF MD 413, Somerset, MD
Built 1966 Load: 62.1 t ADT: 4,071
MD 363
FairOver: UPPER THOROFARE
0.36 MILE E OF HOTEL RD, Somerset, MD
Built 1987 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 1,322
MD 363
FairOver: MANOKIN RIVER
0.06 MILE WEST OF US 13, Somerset, MD
Built 1974 Load: 85.3 t ADT: 3,722
US 13 SB
FairOver: KINGS CREEK
0.18 MILE SOUTH OF MD 920, Somerset, MD
Built 1962 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 10,500
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.