County profile · official public datasets

Alleghany County, NC

117 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 47% rated Good, 41.9% Fair, 11.1% Poor.

117
Public bridges: 47%
Good condition: 11.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Alleghany County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

85th
of 100 on Poor share: 11.1%
Poor-condition share: 117
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Alleghany County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Alleghany County ranks #85 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.1%). Alleghany County, North Carolina contains 117 public highway bridges. Roughly 47% are rated “Good,” 41.9% “Fair,” and 11.1% “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

117

Public highway bridges in Alleghany County

Good condition

47%

55 of 117 rated 7-9

Fair condition

41.9%

49 of 117 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.1%

13 of 117 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#85 of 100

Among North Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 117 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

47% (55)

Fair

41.9% (49)

Poor

11.1% (13)

Alleghany County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,685 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 591 crossings a day against 769 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 117 of 117 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.2% of Alleghany County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

47 of the 117 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 47% 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 17.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY over BIG PINE CREEK, built 1937, carries 1,347 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 7,685 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

14
1950s

10
1960s

18
1970s

7
1980s

16
1990s

12
2000s

12
2010s

22
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 22 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

How Alleghany County compares with North Carolina's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Alleghany County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1990 is 8 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 99 North Carolina counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Alleghany County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Martin County	124	45.2%	51.6%	3.2%	1988
Bladen County	123	64.2%	34.1%	1.6%	1992
New Hanover County	123	65%	31.7%	3.3%	1995
Franklin County	118	46.6%	47.5%	5.9%	1990
Alleghany County (this page)	117	47%	41.9%	11.1%	1982
Pender County	112	33.9%	63.4%	2.7%	1983

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 Alleghany 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 Alleghany County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (117 bridges here).

Franklin County, GA · 117 bridges
Polk County, GA · 117 bridges
Clark County, KY · 117 bridges
Fleming County, KY · 117 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 117 Good 55 Fair 49 Poor 13

All bridges (117)

Sort:

Alleghany County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Alleghany County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,685 vehicle crossings a day

40.2% of Alleghany County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Alleghany County compares with North Carolina's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

All bridges (117)

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

SR1344

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

NC93

SR1479

SR1139

SR1128

SR1111

SR1444

SR1450

SR1462

US21

SR1317

SR1308

SR1128

SR1142

SR1422

US21

SR1172

SR1193

SR1133

US221

SR1433

CAMPGROUND RD.

CAMPGROUND LOOP RD

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

SR1466

SR1206

SR1319

SR1105

SR1300

SR1422

SR1422

SR 1143

US21

US221

SR1206

SR 1341

SR1206

SR1345

SR1422

NC113

SR1407

US221

NC93

NC18

SR1193

SR1412

US221

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