County profile · official public datasets

Columbus County, NC

226 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 60.6% rated Good, 38.1% Fair, 1.3% Poor.

226
Public bridges: 60.6%
Good condition: 1.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Columbus County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 11%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.3%
Poor-condition share: 226
public highway bridges: 1994
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.

Columbus County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Columbus County ranks #11 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.3%). Columbus County, North Carolina contains 226 public highway bridges. Roughly 60.6% are rated “Good,” 38.1% “Fair,” and 1.3% “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

226

Public highway bridges in Columbus County

Good condition

60.6%

137 of 226 rated 7-9

Fair condition

38.1%

86 of 226 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.3%

3 of 226 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#11 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 226 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

60.6% (137)

Fair

38.1% (86)

Poor

1.3% (3)

Columbus County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,660 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,887 crossings a day against 1,936 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 226 of 226 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

24.8% of Columbus County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

56 of the 226 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 60.6% 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 86.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

NC87 over WEYMAN CREEK, built 1965, carries 7,500 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 8,660 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

5
1930s

4
1940s

2
1950s

17
1960s

16
1970s

13
1980s

24
1990s

30
2000s

21
2010s

84
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 84 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 37.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1994, 8 years newer than the North Carolina average of 1986.

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Columbus County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.3% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1994 against a peer-group mean of 1983 is 11 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Columbus County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Gaston County	232	36.6%	58.2%	5.2%	1980
Burke County	231	43.3%	51.1%	5.6%	1981
Rockingham County	229	48.5%	39.7%	11.8%	1987
Pitt County	228	64.5%	32%	3.5%	1994
Columbus County (this page)	226	60.6%	38.1%	1.3%	1994
Macon County	223	30%	52.5%	17.5%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (226 bridges here).

Faribault County, MN · 226 bridges
Oktibbeha County, MS · 226 bridges
Beaverhead County, MT · 226 bridges
Jefferson County, OH · 226 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1994 here).

Denton County, TX · avg 1994 · 991 bridges
St. Charles County, MO · avg 1994 · 417 bridges
Rock County, WI · avg 1994 · 304 bridges
Pasco County, FL · avg 1994 · 151 bridges

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

All 226 Good 137 Fair 86 Poor 3

All bridges (226)

Sort:

Columbus County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Columbus County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,660 vehicle crossings a day

24.8% of Columbus County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 86.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Columbus 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 (226)

SR1928

SR1849

NC130

NC130

SR1141

SR1428

NC130

NC905

SR1006

SR1005

SR1317

SR1516

SR1530

SR1904

SR1721

SR1001

SR1740

SR1740

SR1836

SR1836

SR1824

SR1824

NC242

NC410

SR1006

NC904

SR1005

SR1314

SR1005

SR1379

SR1504

SR1736

SR1738

US74 WBL

NC130

SR1119

SR1414

SR1700

SR1722

SR1740

SR1878

US76

SR1437

SR1728

US74W NC130

NC87

NC214

SR1849

SR1506

SR1103

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