County profile · official public datasets

Talbot County, MD

42 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.4% rated Good, 76.2% Fair, 2.4% Poor.

42
Public bridges
21.4%
Good condition
2.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Talbot County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 17%
lowest Poor share in state
2.4%
Poor-condition share
42
public highway bridges
1967
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.

Talbot County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Talbot County ranks #4 of 24 Maryland counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.4%). Talbot County, Maryland contains 42 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.4% are rated “Good,” 76.2% “Fair,” and 2.4% “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

42

Public highway bridges in Talbot County

Good condition

21.4%

9 of 42 rated 7-9

Fair condition

76.2%

32 of 42 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.4%

1 of 42 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#4 of 24

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

Condition distribution

Share of 42 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
21.4% (9)
Fair
76.2% (32)
Poor
2.4% (1)

Talbot County's Poor-condition bridges carry 820 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 820 crossings a day against 6,634 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 42 of 42 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

59.5% of Talbot County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

25 of the 42 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 21.4% 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 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

TUNIS MILLS ROAD over LEEDS CREEK, built 1963, carries 820 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 1-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 820 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Talbot County's bridges were built

42 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1940s, when 8 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 75 to 84 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1967, 5 years older than the Maryland average of 1972.

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

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

The 5 Maryland counties nearest Talbot County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.4% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1967 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Talbot County and the 5 Maryland counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
St. Mary's County 50 4%
Dorchester County 47 10.6%
Somerset County 46 6.5%
Kent County 44 4.5%
Talbot County (this page) 42 2.4%
Calvert County 33 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 Talbot 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 Talbot County, both outside Maryland so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside MD (42 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside MD (1967 here).

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

All bridges (42)

BELLEVUE FERRY DOC

Fair

Over: TRED AVON RIVER

1 MI NE OF OXFORD, Talbot, MD

Built 2002 Load: 20.4 t ADT: 2,005

MD 303

Fair

Over: NORWICH CREEK

0.12 MILE S OF MD 404AL, Talbot, MD

Built 1928 Load: 28.6 t ADT: 922

MD 370

Fair

Over: MILES RIVER

0.98 MILE NORTH OF MD 33, Talbot, MD

Built 1984 Load: 30.4 t ADT: 2,943

MD 309

Fair

Over: NORWICH CREEK

0.03 MILE S OF MD 404AL, Talbot, MD

Built 1960 Load: 30.4 t ADT: 4,042

US 50

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

0.69 MILE WEST OF MD 662, Talbot, MD

Built 1945 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 31,938

US 50

Fair

Over: BR OF POTTS MILL CREEK

1.75 MILES WEST OF MD 309, Talbot, MD

Built 1945 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 31,938

US 50

Fair

Over: PAPERMILL POND

0.89 MILE WEST OF MD 322, Talbot, MD

Built 1945 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 24,631

US 50

Fair

Over: PEACHBLOSSOM CREEK

0.26 MILE WEST OF MD 565, Talbot, MD

Built 1941 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 31,091

MD 404 ALT

Fair

Over: NORWICH CREEK

0.28 MILE EAST OF MD 309, Talbot, MD

Built 1900 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 310

MD 303

Fair

Over: BR OF HIGHFIELD CREEK

0.04 MILE NORTH OF MD 309, Talbot, MD

Built 1913 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 192

MD 662B

Fair

Over: SKIPTON CREEK

1.47 MILE SOUTH OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1977 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 522

MD 565

Fair

Over: PAPERMILL POND

0.50 MILE NORTH OF MD 322, Talbot, MD

Built 1950 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,000

MD 303

Fair

Over: BR OF TUCKAHOE CREEK

0.29 MILE EAST OF MD 309, Talbot, MD

Built 1928 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 192

US 50

Fair

Over: TRIB TO POTTS MILL CREEK

1.26 MILES E OF MD 662B, Talbot, MD

Built 1945 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 31,938

US 50 WB

Fair

Over: SOUTH BRANCH SKIPTON CRE

0.66 MILE WEST OF MD 662B, Talbot, MD

Built 1948 Load: 36.7 t ADT: 31,938

MULLETT BRANCH ROA

Fair

Over: KINGS CREEK

0.5 MI SE OF MD 328, Talbot, MD

Built 1960 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 282

MD 662C

Fair

Over: POTTS MILL CREEK

2.05 MILES SOUTH OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1911 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 1,481

US 50 WB

Fair

Over: NORTH BRANCH SKIPTON CRE

0.86 MILE EAST OF MD 662B, Talbot, MD

Built 1948 Load: 39.5 t ADT: 31,938

US 50 EB

Fair

Over: NORTH BRANCH SKIPTON CRE

0.86 MILE EAST OF MD 662B, Talbot, MD

Built 1960 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 31,938

US 50 EB

Fair

Over: SOUTH BRANCH SKIPTON CRE

0.66 MILE WEST OF MD 662B, Talbot, MD

Built 1960 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 31,938

MD 328

Fair

Over: WOOTENAUX CREEK

2.32 MILES EAST OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1936 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 10,230

MD 33

Fair

Over: OAK CREEK

0.64 MILE EAST OF MD 329, Talbot, MD

Built 1965 Load: 44.0 t ADT: 15,421

MD 333

Fair

Over: TRED AVON RIVER

0.12 MILE SOUTH OF MD 322, Talbot, MD

Built 1955 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 8,882

MD 333

Fair

Over: PEACHBLOSSOM CREEK

1.95 MILES S OF MD 322, Talbot, MD

Built 1997 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 7,672

MD 333

Fair

Over: TRIPPE CREEK

0.67 M N OF SPRING ROAD, Talbot, MD

Built 1998 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 7,672

MD 662

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

0.76 MILE NORTH OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1914 Load: 59.4 t ADT: 1,061

MONEY MAKE ROAD

Fair

Over: BOLINGBROKE CREEK

2 MI SE OF TRAPPE, Talbot, MD

Built 2006 Load: 62.1 t ADT: 164

MD 328

Fair

Over: BEAVERDAM BRANCH

3.44 MI W OF CAROLINE CO, Talbot, MD

Built 1944 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 10,230

MD 322

Fair

Over: TANYARD BRANCH

AT MD 33, Talbot, MD

Built 1966 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 18,380

MD 322

Fair

Over: PAPERMILL POND

1.04 MILE NORTH OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1970 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 15,310

WRIGHTS MILL ROAD

Fair

Over: MILES CREEK

2 MI E OF TRAPPE, Talbot, MD

Built 1985 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 225

RABBIT HILL ROAD

Fair

Over: POTTS MILL CREEK

0.5 MILE WEST OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 1991 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 827

MD 331

Good

Over: CHOPTANK RIVER

ON CAROLINE CO LINE, Talbot, MD

Built 2018 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 13,600

MD 33

Good

Over: KNAPPS NARROWS

0.91 M W OF BENDERS LANE, Talbot, MD

Built 1998 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 2,201

MD 404

Good

Over: HIGHWAY DRAINAGE

0.41 M E OF CONNELLY RD, Talbot, MD

Built 2017 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 19,600

DUTCHMANS LANE

Good

Over: WINDMILL BRANCH

850 FEET EAST OF US 50, Talbot, MD

Built 2010 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 5,911

MD 303

Good

Over: BR OF TUCKAHOE CREEK

0.12 M S OF MILL RIDGE RD, Talbot, MD

Built 2008 Load: 40.4 t ADT: 800

MD 404 ALT

Good

Over: NORWICH CREEK

0.25 MI E OF MD 404, Talbot, MD

Built 1995 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 280

MD 404

Good

Over: BRANCH OF MILL CREEK

0.2 M W OF DULIN ROAD, Talbot, MD

Built 2017 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 16,500

KINGSTON ROAD

Good

Over: KINGS CREEK

5 MI NE OF EASTON, Talbot, MD

Built 2007 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 280

BRUCEVILLE ROAD

Good

Over: MILES CREEK

8 MI SE OF EASTON, Talbot, MD

Built 2005 Load: 62.6 t ADT: 531

TUNIS MILLS ROAD

Poor

Over: LEEDS CREEK

6 MI NW OF EASTON, Talbot, MD

Built 1963 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 820
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.