County profile · official public datasets

Martin County, NC

124 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 45.2% rated Good, 51.6% Fair, 3.2% Poor.

124
Public bridges: 45.2%
Good condition: 3.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 32%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.2%
Poor-condition share: 124
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.

Martin County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Martin County ranks #32 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.2%). Martin County, North Carolina contains 124 public highway bridges. Roughly 45.2% are rated “Good,” 51.6% “Fair,” and 3.2% “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

124

Public highway bridges in Martin County

Good condition

45.2%

56 of 124 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.6%

64 of 124 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.2%

4 of 124 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#32 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 124 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

45.2% (56)

Fair

51.6% (64)

Poor

3.2% (4)

Martin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,310 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,328 crossings a day against 2,317 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 124 of 124 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

29% of Martin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

36 of the 124 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 45.2% 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 82.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US64E over WELCH CREEK, built 1989, carries 4,400 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 4-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,310 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

4
1950s

13
1960s

17
1970s

7
1980s

8
1990s

37
2000s

13
2010s

24
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 37 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1988) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Martin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1984 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 Martin County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Swain County	129	25.6%	62.8%	11.6%	1973
Mitchell County	127	35.4%	39.4%	25.2%	1981
Polk County	127	35.4%	53.5%	11%	1978
Martin County (this page)	124	45.2%	51.6%	3.2%	1988
Bladen County	123	64.2%	34.1%	1.6%	1992
New Hanover County	123	65%	31.7%	3.3%	1995

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (124 bridges here).

Bannock County, ID · 124 bridges
Breathitt County, KY · 124 bridges
Caldwell County, LA · 124 bridges
St. Mary County, LA · 124 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Travis County, TX · avg 1988 · 1,544 bridges
Grant County, OK · avg 1988 · 476 bridges
Loudoun County, VA · avg 1988 · 442 bridges
Licking County, OH · avg 1988 · 439 bridges

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

All 124 Good 56 Fair 64 Poor 4

All bridges (124)

Sort:

Martin County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Martin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,310 vehicle crossings a day

29% of Martin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 82.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Martin 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 (124)

SR1329

SR1113

SR1538

SR1549

SR1523

SR1510

SR1528

SR1313

SR1538

NC171

SR1505

NC171

SR1511

SR1522

US64ALT

US64A

NC125

NC125

NC125

US64A

NC171

NC903

NC125

SR1530

CHURCH STREET

SR1555

US13 US64W

US13/64 EBL

SR1344

US13/64E

SR1001

US64W

US64E

SR1515

US17 NBL

NC11

SR1415

SR1106

NC125

US64E

US13 US64

US64W

NC11

SR1417

NC11 NC42

NC171

US13 US64E

US13 US64E

SR1159

SR1134

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