County profile · official public datasets

Craven County, NC

147 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.9% rated Good, 49% Fair, 4.1% Poor.

147
Public bridges
46.9%
Good condition
4.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 40%
lowest Poor share in state
4.1%
Poor-condition share
147
public highway bridges
1988
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.

Craven County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Craven County ranks #40 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.1%). Craven County, North Carolina contains 147 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.9% are rated “Good,” 49% “Fair,” and 4.1% “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

147

Public highway bridges in Craven County

Good condition

46.9%

69 of 147 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49%

72 of 147 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.1%

6 of 147 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#40 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 147 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
46.9% (69)
Fair
49% (72)
Poor
4.1% (6)

Craven County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10,230 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,705 crossings a day against 3,748 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 147 of 147 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

22.4% of Craven County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

33 of the 147 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 46.9% 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 64.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US17 over PALMETTO SWAMP, built 1953, carries 6,600 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 10,230 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Craven County's bridges were built

147 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1988) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

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

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Craven County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1987 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 Craven County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Montgomery County 151 1.3%
Stokes County 150 10%
Granville County 149 6%
Edgecombe County 147 3.4%
Craven County (this page) 147 4.1%
Lenoir County 145 2.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (147 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1988 here).

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

All 147 Good 69 Fair 72 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (72)

NC41

Fair

Over: US70

0.4 MI.S. OF JCT.SR1237, Craven, NC

Built 1978 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 2,100

US70E

Fair

Over: SR1004 A&EC RAILROAD

2.7 MI.E.JCT.US17, Craven, NC

Built 1976 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 29,000

US70W.BYP

Fair

Over: US17 US70 BUS

1.1MI.E. JCT.SR1200, Craven, NC

Built 1977 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 23,750

SR1700

Fair

Over: HARLOWE CREEK

0.05 MI.N.JCT.NC101, Craven, NC

Built 1980 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 3,000

NC43

Fair

Over: PALMETTO SWAMP

1.9 MI.N. OFJCT.NC118, Craven, NC

Built 2008 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 6,900

US70 WBL

Fair

Over: SR1004 & ATL&EC RR

2.7 MI. E. JCT.JCT. US17, Craven, NC

Built 1976 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 29,000

NFSR 121

Fair

Over: BRICES CREEK

NATIONAL FOREST ROAD, Craven, NC

Built 1983 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 50

SLOCUM RD

Fair

Over: SLOCUM CREEK

1 KM W OF ROOSEVELT BLVD, Craven, NC

Built 1984 Load: 51.0 t ADT: 2,500

SR1004

Fair

Over: BRICES CREEK

0.15 MI. E. OF JCT SR1143, Craven, NC

Built 1981 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 8,100

NC43

Fair

Over: NEUSE RIVER

1.3 MI.N.JCT.SR1401, Craven, NC

Built 1961 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 14,500

SR1100

Fair

Over: BLACK SWAMP

9.3 MI.W. OF JCT.US70, Craven, NC

Built 1988 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 170

NC43

Fair

Over: CREEPING SWAMP

1.3 MI.N. JCT. SR 1476, Craven, NC

Built 2008 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 6,700

SR1700

Fair

Over: LONG CREEK

0.2MI.S.JCT.SR1704, Craven, NC

Built 1988 Load: 66.2 t ADT: 700

SR1620

Fair

Over: MORGAN SWAMP

0.5 MI. W. JCT. SR1615, Craven, NC

Built 1985 Load: 82.5 t ADT: 210

SR1236

Fair

Over: GRAPE CREEK

0.6MI.N. JCT. SR1001, Craven, NC

Built 1994 Load: 87.0 t ADT: 20

SR1621

Fair

Over: FISHER SWAMP

1.2 MI.E. OF JCT.SR1629, Craven, NC

Built 1986 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 720

SR1444

Fair

Over: BR. OF SWIFT CREEK

0.7 MI W. OF JCT SR1440, Craven, NC

Built 1991 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,600

SR1621

Fair

Over: FORK OF LITTLE SWIFT CRK

0.1 MI.S.JCT.SR1622, Craven, NC

Built 1987 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 650

SR1617

Fair

Over: KIT SWAMP

0.3 MI. E. JCT. SR1003, Craven, NC

Built 1994 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 240

SR1444

Fair

Over: BR. OF SWIFT CREEK

0.2 MI.E. OF JCT.NC118, Craven, NC

Built 1985 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,400

SR1440

Fair

Over: CANAL OFF SWIFT CREEK

0.7MI.S. OF SR1441, Craven, NC

Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 4,700

SR1644

Fair

Over: CR. OFF PALMETTO SWP.

0.3 MI.E. OF JCT.US17, Craven, NC

Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 150

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.