County profile · official public datasets

Cabarrus County, NC

236 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 53% rated Good, 38.6% Fair, 8.5% Poor.

236
Public bridges
53%
Good condition
8.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cabarrus 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.

72nd
of 100 on Poor share
8.5%
Poor-condition share
236
public highway bridges
1993
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.

Cabarrus County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cabarrus County ranks #72 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.5%). Cabarrus County, North Carolina contains 236 public highway bridges. Roughly 53% are rated “Good,” 38.6% “Fair,” and 8.5% “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.

Total bridges

236

Public highway bridges in Cabarrus County

Good condition

53%

125 of 236 rated 7-9

Fair condition

38.6%

91 of 236 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.5%

20 of 236 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#72 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 236 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
53% (125)
Fair
38.6% (91)
Poor
8.5% (20)

Cabarrus County's Poor-condition bridges carry 122,380 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 6,119 crossings a day against 9,316 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 236 of 236 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

23.3% of Cabarrus County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

55 of the 236 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 53% 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 13.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

NC73 over CODDLE CREEK, built 1969, carries 16,500 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 122,380 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Cabarrus County's bridges were built

236 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 69 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1993, 7 years newer than the North Carolina average of 1986.

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

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Cabarrus County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1993 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 13 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cabarrus County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Chatham County 241 2.1%
Catawba County 236 6.8%
Cabarrus County (this page) 236 8.5%
McDowell County 235 7.7%
Jackson County 234 12.8%
Gaston County 232 5.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (236 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1993 here).

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

All 236 Good 125 Fair 91 Poor 20

Good-condition bridges (125)

SR2427

Good

Over: DUTCH BUFFALO CREEK

0.1 MI. N. JCT. SR2415, Cabarrus, NC

Built 1997 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 520

I85 SBL

Good

Over: IRISH BUFFALO CREEK

1.2 MI. N. JCT. NC73, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2016 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 45,200

SR1300

Good

Over: TRAMWAY

0.55 MI. E. JCT. US29, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2011 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 13,500

NC73

Good

Over: I85

0.16 MI. E. JCT. SR1622, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2013 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 23,000

NC3

Good

Over: I85 US601

0.1 MI. N. JCT. SR2103, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 18,000

RAMP ONTO I-85 S

Good

Over: I-85

0.13 MI. W. JCT. SR 2126, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2021 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 4,700

US29 US601 SBL

Good

Over: I85

0.4 MI. N. JCT. US29A, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2017 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 13,500

US29 NBL

Good

Over: I85

0.4 MI. N. JCT. US29A, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2017 Load: 58.9 t ADT: 13,500

SR2000

Good

Over: I85 & US601

0.3 MI. E. JCT. SR2122, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 1,100

SR1123

Good

Over: ANDERSON CREEK

0.8 MI.S.JCT.US601, Cabarrus, NC

Built 1988 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 510

SR1139

Good

Over: SOUTHERN RAILWAY

0.3 MI. S. JCT. SR1183, Cabarrus, NC

Built 1990 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 7,500

SR 1430

Good

Over: US 29

1.28 ML E.OF SR 1431, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 61.6 t ADT: 21,000

SR2408

Good

Over: BLACK RUN CREEK

0.9 MI. E. JCT. SR1006, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2011 Load: 62.5 t ADT: 1,200

SR 1430

Good

Over: US 29

1.28 Miles East of SR 143, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 21,000

SR1173

Good

Over: NS/NCRR RAILROAD

.1 MI.S.JCT.NC49, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2015 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 7,300

SR1008 (KAN. HWY)

Good

Over: RAILROAD(NSR)

0.1 MI.W.OF JCT. US601, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2017 Load: 64.4 t ADT: 9,300

SR2894

Good

Over: SR2894 EBL

0.75 MI. E. JCT. SR2467, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2021 Load: 65.3 t ADT: 19,750

I85 US601

Good

Over: COLD WATER CREEK

0.3 MI. S. JCT. SR2114, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 69.8 t ADT: 37,500

I85 US601

Good

Over: COLD WATER CREEK

0.3 MI. S. JCT. SR2114, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2018 Load: 69.8 t ADT: 37,500

SR1155

Good

Over: UT TO IRISH BUFFALO CREE

0.1 MI. S. JCT. SR1500, Cabarrus, NC

Built 1995 Load: 72.5 t ADT: 6,400

SR1145

Good

Over: UT TO MUDDY CREEK

0.2 MI. S. JCT. SR1177, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2013 Load: 73.4 t ADT: 460

SR1002

Good

Over: SOUTHERN RAILWAY

0.2 MI.E.JCT.SR1335, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2014 Load: 75.2 t ADT: 16,000

SR2444

Good

Over: LITTLE BEAR CREEK

0.1 MI. E. JCT. SR2453, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2013 Load: 79.8 t ADT: 260

SR2435

Good

Over: BLACK RUN CREEK

0.7 MI.E.JCT.SR1006, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2009 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 280

SR2444

Good

Over: BUTCHER BRANCH

0.4 MI. W. JCT. SR2604, Cabarrus, NC

Built 2016 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 260

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.