County profile · official public datasets

Catawba County, NC

236 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.6% rated Good, 60.6% Fair, 6.8% Poor.

236
Public bridges
32.6%
Good condition
6.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Catawba County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

65th
of 100 on Poor share
6.8%
Poor-condition share
236
public highway bridges
1981
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.

Catawba County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Catawba County ranks #65 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.8%). Catawba County, North Carolina contains 236 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.6% are rated “Good,” 60.6% “Fair,” and 6.8% “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 Catawba County

Good condition

32.6%

77 of 236 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.6%

143 of 236 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.8%

16 of 236 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#65 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
32.6% (77)
Fair
60.6% (143)
Poor
6.8% (16)

Catawba County's Poor-condition bridges carry 90,850 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,678 crossings a day against 6,780 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.

36% of Catawba County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

85 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 32.6% 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 20.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I40 EBL over LYLE CREEK, built 1957, carries 18,250 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 16-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 90,850 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Catawba County's bridges were built

236 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 53 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 5 years older than the North Carolina average of 1986.

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

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Catawba County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.8% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Catawba County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Chatham County 241 2.1%
Cabarrus County 236 8.5%
Catawba County (this page) 236 6.8%
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 Catawba 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 Catawba 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 (1981 here).

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

All 236 Good 77 Fair 143 Poor 16

All bridges (236)

US321 SBL

Good

Over: NC10

1.6 MI. N. JCT. SR2019, Catawba, NC

Built 1997 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 13,000

SR1143

Good

Over: US321

0.1 MI. E. JCT. SR1008, Catawba, NC

Built 1995 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 3,200

NC127

Good

Over: US321

0.3 MI. N. JCT. SR1008, Catawba, NC

Built 1996 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 22,500

SR1124

Good

Over: US70

300 FT. S. JCT. SR1348, Catawba, NC

Built 2014 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 4,300

SR1702

Good

Over: ELK SHOAL CREEK

0.4 MI. S. JCT. SR1700, Catawba, NC

Built 1987 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 650

US321 NBL

Good

Over: NC10

1.6 MI. N. JCT. SR2019, Catawba, NC

Built 1997 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 13,000

SR1716

Good

Over: LYLE CREEK

25 FT. S. JCT. SR1707, Catawba, NC

Built 1989 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 2,500

US321 BUS

Good

Over: PINCH GUT CREEK

250 FT. N. JCT. SR1880, Catawba, NC

Built 1995 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 7,900

SR1146

Good

Over: MUDDY CREEK

0.4 MI. N. JCT. SR1144, Catawba, NC

Built 1993 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 4,400

SR1156

Good

Over: HILDEBRAN CREEK

0.1 MI. W. JCT. US321, Catawba, NC

Built 2009 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 1,800

SR1732

Good

Over: MCLIN CREEK

0.3 MI. N. JCT. NC10, Catawba, NC

Built 1984 Load: 61.6 t ADT: 4,000

SR1880

Good

Over: PINCH GUT CREEK

0.2 MI. N. JCT. SR1882, Catawba, NC

Built 2011 Load: 66.2 t ADT: 3,100

46TH AVE DR NE

Good

Over: SNOW CREEK

0.3 MI E JTC W 45AVEPL AV, Catawba, NC

Built 2016 Load: 76.2 t ADT: 550

SR1105

Good

Over: UT TO JACOB FORK CREEK

0.5 MI. E. JCT. NC18, Catawba, NC

Built 1957 Load: 83.4 t ADT: 950

SR1144

Good

Over: UT TO HENRY FORK

0.1 MI. W. JCT. SR1143, Catawba, NC

Built 1993 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,800

SR1813

Good

Over: BATTLE RUN CREEK

0.2 MI. W. JCT. SR1886, Catawba, NC

Built 1996 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 3,100

SR1881

Good

Over: LONG BRANCH

0.2 MI. N. JCT. SR1880, Catawba, NC

Built 1993 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 210

SR1850

Good

Over: CREEK

0.5 MI. N. JCT. SR1849, Catawba, NC

Built 1976 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,800

I40 WBL RAMP

Good

Over: LYLE CREEK

1.0 MI. W. JCT. SR1709, Catawba, NC

Built 2004 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 5,875

EASTOVER DR.

Good

Over: CREEK

0.15MI.W.OF JCT.HER.SP.RD, Catawba, NC

Built 2019 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 50

17TH ST.NW

Poor

Over: FRYE CREEK

0.3MI. N. OF JCT.W.SR1308, Catawba, NC

Built 2020 Load: 6.3 t ADT: 2,500

SR1544

Poor

Over: HERMAN CREEK

0.2 MI. W. JCT. SR1491, Catawba, NC

Built 1975 Load: 8.1 t ADT: 1,600

SR1131

Poor

Over: HOP CREEK

100 FT. W. JCT. SR1133, Catawba, NC

Built 1950 Load: 10.8 t ADT: 750

SR1712

Poor

Over: UT TO LYLE CREEK

0.1 MI. E. JCT. NC16, Catawba, NC

Built 1973 Load: 11.7 t ADT: 1,500

SR1817

Poor

Over: N. FORK MOUNTAIN CREEK

1.3 MI. N. JCT. SR1818, Catawba, NC

Built 1973 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 500

SR1709

Poor

Over: I40

0.3 MI. N. JCT. SR1714, Catawba, NC

Built 1957 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 10,000

NC16 BUS

Poor

Over: US70

0.1 MI. N. JCT. SR1162, Catawba, NC

Built 1947 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 6,500

US321 BUS

Poor

Over: SMYRE CREEK

0.1 MI. S. JCT. SR1927, Catawba, NC

Built 1922 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 9,300

NC10 NC16

Poor

Over: NOR. & S. RR ABANDONED

0.3 MI. W. JCT. SR1880, Catawba, NC

Built 1958 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 12,000

SR1927

Poor

Over: TOWN CREEK

0.1 MI.E.JCT.US321 BUS, Catawba, NC

Built 1966 Load: 35.3 t ADT: 150

SR1831

Poor

Over: BALLS CREEK

0.6 MI. S. JCT. SR1004, Catawba, NC

Built 1980 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,000

NC150

Poor

Over: SEABOARD COASTLINE RR

0.1 MI. W. JCT. SR1815, Catawba, NC

Built 1965 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 9,900

I40 EBL

Poor

Over: LYLE CREEK

2.0 MI. E. JCT. SR1716, Catawba, NC

Built 1957 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 18,250

SR1402

Poor

Over: SNOW CREEK

0.1 MI. N. JCT. SR1695, Catawba, NC

Built 1981 Load: 66.2 t ADT: 14,000

SR2025

Poor

Over: RHODES MILL CREEK

0.6 MI. S. JCT. SR2026, Catawba, NC

Built 1994 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 100

SR1196

Poor

Over: LONGVIEW CREEK

0.2 MI. N. JCT. SR1195, Catawba, NC

Built 1960 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 2,800

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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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.