County profile · official public datasets

McDowell County, NC

235 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 43.4% rated Good, 48.9% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

235
Public bridges: 43.4%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

McDowell 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.

68th
of 100 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 235
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.

McDowell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McDowell County ranks #68 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). McDowell County, North Carolina contains 235 public highway bridges. Roughly 43.4% are rated “Good,” 48.9% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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

235

Public highway bridges in McDowell County

Good condition

43.4%

102 of 235 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.9%

115 of 235 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

18 of 235 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#68 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 235 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

43.4% (102)

Fair

48.9% (115)

Poor

7.7% (18)

McDowell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 45,194 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,511 crossings a day against 3,087 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 235 of 235 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.9% of McDowell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

96 of the 235 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 43.4% 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 32.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US70 over CATAWBA RIVER OVER FLOW, built 1952, carries 14,500 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 45,194 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

8
1930s

4
1940s

3
1950s

52
1960s

20
1970s

25
1980s

19
1990s

32
2000s

37
2010s

30
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 5 years older than the North Carolina average of 1986.

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest McDowell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1982 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 McDowell County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Cabarrus County	236	53%	38.6%	8.5%	1993
Catawba County	236	32.6%	60.6%	6.8%	1981
McDowell County (this page)	235	43.4%	48.9%	7.7%	1981
Jackson County	234	39.7%	47.4%	12.8%	1977
Gaston County	232	36.6%	58.2%	5.2%	1980
Burke County	231	43.3%	51.1%	5.6%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (235 bridges here).

Crittenden County, AR · 235 bridges
Greenwood County, KS · 235 bridges
San Patricio County, TX · 235 bridges
Etowah County, AL · 236 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 235 Good 102 Fair 115 Poor 18

All bridges (235)

Sort:

McDowell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

McDowell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 45,194 vehicle crossings a day

40.9% of McDowell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 32.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How McDowell 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 (235)

I-40

US221

I40

I-40

SR1401

SR1434

SR1818

SR1001

SR1142

US221

SR1781

SR1760

SR1501

NC80

I-40 WBL

SR1568

I-40 EBL

SR1241

SR1436

US221B

I-40 EBL

I-40 WBL

SR1227

US221 NC22

I-40 EBL

I-40 WBL

I-40 EBL

SR1569

SR1191

US221 NC226

I-40 EBL

SR1168

SR1556

I-40 WBL

US221

SR1819

SR1754

I-40 WBL

SR1214

SR1129

SR1737

SR1741

I-40 EBL

SR1443

I-40 WBL

SR1123

NC80

I-40 RAMP

I-40 WBL

SR1301

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