County profile · official public datasets

Caldwell County, NC

201 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 35.8% rated Good, 55.7% Fair, 8.5% Poor.

201
Public bridges: 35.8%
Good condition: 8.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

71st
of 100 on Poor share: 8.5%
Poor-condition share: 201
public highway bridges: 1983
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.

Caldwell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Caldwell County ranks #71 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.5%). Caldwell County, North Carolina contains 201 public highway bridges. Roughly 35.8% are rated “Good,” 55.7% “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

201

Public highway bridges in Caldwell County

Good condition

35.8%

72 of 201 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.7%

112 of 201 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.5%

17 of 201 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#71 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 201 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

35.8% (72)

Fair

55.7% (112)

Poor

8.5% (17)

Caldwell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 73,020 vehicle crossings a day

That is 11.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,295 crossings a day against 1,678 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 201 of 201 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.3% of Caldwell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

79 of the 201 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 35.8% 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 30.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US321NBL over LAKE HICKORY, built 1983, carries 22,500 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 73,020 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

5
1940s

5
1950s

17
1960s

44
1970s

13
1980s

31
1990s

34
2000s

21
2010s

25
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Caldwell 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 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1988 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Caldwell County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Duplin County	208	33.2%	59.1%	7.7%	1988
Wayne County	208	43.8%	51.9%	4.3%	1991
Caldwell County (this page)	201	35.8%	55.7%	8.5%	1983
Watauga County	200	43.5%	47%	9.5%	1984
Sampson County	196	50%	46.9%	3.1%	1994
Wilson County	195	48.2%	50.8%	1%	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 Caldwell 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 Caldwell County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (201 bridges here).

Williamson County, IL · 201 bridges
Hancock County, IN · 201 bridges
Pocahontas County, IA · 201 bridges
McCracken County, KY · 201 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1983 here).

Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges

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

All 201 Good 72 Fair 112 Poor 17

All bridges (201)

Sort:

Caldwell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Caldwell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 73,020 vehicle crossings a day

39.3% of Caldwell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 30.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Caldwell 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 (201)

NC90

SR1718

US321A

SR1718

NC268

SR1328

SR1722

SR1715

SR1756

SR1322

SR1369

SR1127

SR 1898 (NEW FARM)

US64 NC90

SR1511

SR1328

SR1362

SR1362

SR1107

NC90

SR1143

SR1338

SR1897SR1897

SR1369

SR1746

MULBERRY STREET

SR1705

SR1346

SR1728

SR1737

FAIRVIEW DR

SR1328

SR1720

SR1608

SR1571

SR1519

SR1372

SR1765

SR1002

SR1740

SR1574

SR1719

US321SBL

US64 NC18

SR1703

ARROWOOD STREET

SR1927

SR1367

SR1545

SR1372

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