Total bridges
318
Public highway bridges in Johnston County
County profile · official public datasets
Johnston County, NC
318 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.1% rated Good, 53.5% Fair, 4.4% Poor.
- 318
- Public bridges
- 42.1%
- Good condition
- 4.4%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Johnston County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 48%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 4.4%
- Poor-condition share
- 318
- public highway bridges
- 1989
- 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.
Johnston County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Johnston County ranks #48 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.4%). Johnston County, North Carolina contains 318 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.1% are rated “Good,” 53.5% “Fair,” and 4.4% “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.
Good condition
42.1%
134 of 318 rated 7-9
Fair condition
53.5%
170 of 318 rated 5-6
Poor condition
4.4%
14 of 318 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#48 of 100
Among North Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 318 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 42.1% (134)
Fair 53.5% (170)
Poor 4.4% (14)
Johnston County's Poor-condition bridges carry 109,390 vehicle crossings a day
That is 4.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 7,814 crossings a day against 6,795 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 318 of 318 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
26.4% of Johnston County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
84 of the 318 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 42.1% 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 20.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
I95 SBL over BLACK CREEK, built 1955, carries 22,750 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 109,390 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Johnston County's bridges were built
318 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s 3
1930–1939
3 bridges
- 1940s 4
1940–1949
4 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
31 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
32 bridges
- 1970s 20
1970–1979
20 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
60 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
55 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
45 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
45 bridges
- 2020s 19
2020–2029
19 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 60 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1989) matches the North Carolina average (1986).
How Johnston County compares with North Carolina's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Johnston County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.4% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 8 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 99 North Carolina counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson County | 340 | 42.9% | 52.9% | 4.1% | 1988 |
| Iredell County | 335 | 35.2% | 54.6% | 10.1% | 1981 |
| Johnston County (this page) | 318 | 42.1% | 53.5% | 4.4% | 1989 |
| Durham County | 314 | 35.7% | 60.8% | 3.5% | 1984 |
| Surry County | 308 | 28.9% | 62% | 9.1% | 1979 |
| Rutherford County | 298 | 40.3% | 47.3% | 12.4% | 1974 |
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 Johnston 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 Johnston County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NC (318 bridges here).
- Garland County, AR · 319 bridges
- Mesa County, CO · 319 bridges
- Adams County, IL · 319 bridges
- Bates County, MO · 319 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1989 here).
- Harris County, TX · avg 1989 · 4,029 bridges
- Buffalo County, NE · avg 1989 · 459 bridges
- Brazos County, TX · avg 1989 · 370 bridges
- Dubuque County, IA · avg 1989 · 346 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (318)
SR1555
GoodOver: LITTLE CREEK
0.6 MI.S.NC42, Johnston, NC
Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 7,500
SR1330
GoodOver: BEAVERDAM BRANCH
0.1MI N. JCT SR1382, Johnston, NC
Built 2000 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 3,300
SR1572
GoodOver: CREEK
0.2MI S. JCT SR1573, Johnston, NC
Built 1970 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 270
SR2536
GoodOver: BEAVERDAM CREEK
0.2 MI.E.JCT.SR2372, Johnston, NC
Built 2009 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 630
SR1007
PoorOver: I95
0.1 MI.E. OF JCT. SR2502, Johnston, NC
Built 1955 Load: 23.5 t ADT: 4,500
NC42
PoorOver: SWIFT CREEK
0.7 MI W JCT SR1525, Johnston, NC
Built 1947 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 21,000
NC42
PoorOver: WHITE OAK CREEK
0.15 MI. E. JCT. SR1549, Johnston, NC
Built 1947 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 20,000
NC210
PoorOver: MIDDLE CREEK
0.2MI E.JCT SR1341, Johnston, NC
Built 1934 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 5,900
SR1700
PoorOver: NEUSE RIVER
0.2 MI. N. JCT. SR1708, Johnston, NC
Built 1981 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 11,000
I95 SBL
PoorOver: BLACK CREEK
0.8 MI.N.JCT US301/701, Johnston, NC
Built 1955 Load: 37.1 t ADT: 22,750
US70BUS
PoorOver: I95
0.4 MI.E. JCT. SR2560, Johnston, NC
Built 1955 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 10,500
SR1700
PoorOver: BUFFALO CREEK
0.8 MI W. JCT SR1720, Johnston, NC
Built 1977 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,100
NC231
PoorOver: LITTLE RIVER
1.1 MI. N. JCT. NC96, Johnston, NC
Built 1997 Load: 47.1 t ADT: 1,700
SR1007
PoorOver: POLECAT BRANCH
1.0 MI. E. JCT. SR2507, Johnston, NC
Built 1999 Load: 86.1 t ADT: 2,700
SR1003
PoorOver: BUFFALO CREEK
0.4MI N.JCT.US70, Johnston, NC
Built 1977 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 4,800
SR1928
PoorOver: BR. OF NEUSE RIVER
0.6 MI.E. OF SR1003, Johnston, NC
Built 1980 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 2,500
SR2335
PoorOver: BIG BRANCH
0.2MI.N. OF JCT SR2336, Johnston, NC
Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 740
SR1124
PoorOver: MILL CREEK
0.1 MI.N.JCT.SR1128, Johnston, NC
Built 1962 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 200
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.