County profile · official public datasets

Cape May County, NJ

74 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.3% rated Good, 67.6% Fair, 12.2% Poor.

74
Public bridges
20.3%
Good condition
12.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cape May County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

21st
of 21 on Poor share
12.2%
Poor-condition share
74
public highway bridges
1972
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.

Cape May County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cape May County ranks #21 of 21 New Jersey counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.2%). Cape May County, New Jersey contains 74 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.3% are rated “Good,” 67.6% “Fair,” and 12.2% “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

74

Public highway bridges in Cape May County

Good condition

20.3%

15 of 74 rated 7-9

Fair condition

67.6%

50 of 74 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.2%

9 of 74 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#21 of 21

Among New Jersey counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 74 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
20.3% (15)
Fair
67.6% (50)
Poor
12.2% (9)

Cape May County's Poor-condition bridges carry 71,961 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 7,996 crossings a day against 8,454 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 74 of 74 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

58.1% of Cape May County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

43 of the 74 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 20.3% 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 31.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CR633(LAFAYETTE S) over CAPE ISLAND CREEK, built 1927, carries 22,960 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 71,961 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Cape May County's bridges were built

74 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 18 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1972, 6 years newer than the New Jersey average of 1966.

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

How Cape May County compares with New Jersey's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 New Jersey counties nearest Cape May County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is 5 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 20 New Jersey counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cape May County and the 5 New Jersey counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Atlantic County 207 5.8%
Hudson County 202 6.4%
Sussex County 174 9.2%
Salem County 114 2.6%
Cumberland County 103 4.9%
Cape May County (this page) 74 12.2%

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 Cape May 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 Cape May County, both outside New Jersey so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NJ (74 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NJ (1972 here).

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

All 74 Good 15 Fair 50 Poor 9

All bridges (74)

NJ 47

Good

Over: WEST CREEK

3.6 MI N OF NJ 347, Cape May, NJ

Built 1999 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 4,382

GLENWOOD AVENUE

Good

Over: SUNSET LAKE

0.45 MI WEST OF NJ AVENUE, Cape May, NJ

Built 1990 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 1,826

GSP SB

Good

Over: AVALON BLVD (CR 601)

1.75 M S OF RTS 9&83 JCT, Cape May, NJ

Built 1954 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 11,505

NJ 47

Good

Over: EAST CREEK

0.43 MI S OF RT 550 SPUR, Cape May, NJ

Built 1998 Load: 44.5 t ADT: 3,052

NJ 49-DELSEA DRIVE

Good

Over: CONRAIL BEESLEYS PT SEC

.55 MI WEST OF NJ 50, Cape May, NJ

Built 2009 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 6,027

West 17th Street

Good

Over: Venetian-Carnival Bayou

05.MI NW OF ROOSEVELT BLV, Cape May, NJ

Built 2018 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 210

GSP Northbound

Good

Over: Crest Haven Road

2.6 MI S. OF GSP & CR 601, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 54.1 t ADT: 18,231

GSP Southbound

Good

Over: Crest Haven Road(CR 609)

2.56 MI S OF GSP & CR 601, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 54.1 t ADT: 11,505

GSP Northbound

Good

Over: Shell Bay Avenue

1.8 MI N OF GSP & NJ 147, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 12,154

GSP Southbound

Good

Over: Shell Bay Avenue

1.8 MI N OF GSP & NJ 147, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 19,500

GSP Northbound

Good

Over: Stone Harbor Blvd

1.1 MI S OF GSP & CR 609, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 61.9 t ADT: 12,154

GSP Southbound

Good

Over: Stone Harbor Blvd(CR657)

3.3 MI N OF GSP & NJ 147, Cape May, NJ

Built 2015 Load: 61.9 t ADT: 11,505

NJ 50

Good

Over: Tuckahoe River

0.2mi N of RT49&50 JCT, Cape May, NJ

Built 2016 Load: 69.7 t ADT: 13,410

CR 616 (TYLER RD)

Good

Over: SLUICE CREEK

0.3 MI. SOUTH OF CR 631, Cape May, NJ

Built 1997 Load: 72.6 t ADT: 790

NJ 52 Ramp

Good

Over: Access Road

2.2mi SE of US9&52 JCT, Cape May, NJ

Built 2013 Load: 96.9 t ADT: 552

OCEAN DRIVE CR 619

Poor

Over: GRASSY SOUND

0.45 mi N of NJ 147, Cape May, NJ

Built 1939 Load: 10.0 t ADT: 1,228

OCEAN DRIVE CR 621

Poor

Over: MIDDLE THOROFARE

1.68 MI E OF NJ RT 109, Cape May, NJ

Built 1939 Load: 11.8 t ADT: 9,502

CR 619 (OCEAN DR)

Poor

Over: GREAT CHANNEL

1.9 MI NE OF RTE 147, Cape May, NJ

Built 1939 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 5,582

OCEAN DRIVE CR 619

Poor

Over: CORSONS INLET

4.38 m S. of CR623 (34th), Cape May, NJ

Built 1948 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 2,410

CR633(LAFAYETTE S)

Poor

Over: CAPE ISLAND CREEK

1 MI S OF PARKWAY, Cape May, NJ

Built 1927 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 22,960

OCEAN DRIVE CR 619

Poor

Over: TOWNSENDS INLET

1.81 Mi N of CR 601, Cape May, NJ

Built 1939 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 6,548

NJ 49-DELSEA DRIVE

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

1.2 MI WEST OF NJ 50, Cape May, NJ

Built 1930 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 6,971

CR 621 (OCEAN DR)

Poor

Over: UPPER THOROFARE

1.25 MI E.OF GSP & RT 621, Cape May, NJ

Built 1939 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 9,880

CR657(STONE HARBR)

Poor

Over: GREAT CHANNEL

3 M E OF GS PARKWAY INTER, Cape May, NJ

Built 1930 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 6,880

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.