County profile · official public datasets

Rockingham County, NC

229 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.5% rated Good, 39.7% Fair, 11.8% Poor.

229
Public bridges: 48.5%
Good condition: 11.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

87th
of 100 on Poor share: 11.8%
Poor-condition share: 229
public highway bridges: 1987
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.

Rockingham County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Rockingham County ranks #87 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.8%). Rockingham County, North Carolina contains 229 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.5% are rated “Good,” 39.7% “Fair,” and 11.8% “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

229

Public highway bridges in Rockingham County

Good condition

48.5%

111 of 229 rated 7-9

Fair condition

39.7%

91 of 229 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.8%

27 of 229 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#87 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 229 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.5% (111)

Fair

39.7% (91)

Poor

11.8% (27)

Rockingham County's Poor-condition bridges carry 148,965 vehicle crossings a day

That is 17.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,517 crossings a day against 2,907 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 229 of 229 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

38% of Rockingham County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

87 of the 229 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 48.5% 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 16.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US29 over LITTLE TROUBLESOME CREEK, built 1968, carries 24,500 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 27-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 148,965 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

1
1930s

4
1940s

2
1950s

20
1960s

42
1970s

28
1980s

11
1990s

25
2000s

25
2010s

62
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 62 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1987) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Rockingham County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.8% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 against a peer-group mean of 1985 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 Rockingham County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
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
Rockingham County (this page)	229	48.5%	39.7%	11.8%	1987
Pitt County	228	64.5%	32%	3.5%	1994
Columbus County	226	60.6%	38.1%	1.3%	1994

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (229 bridges here).

Walton County, FL · 229 bridges
Aroostook County, ME · 229 bridges
Stearns County, MN · 229 bridges
Itawamba County, MS · 229 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1987 here).

St. Louis County, MO · avg 1987 · 912 bridges
Ellis County, TX · avg 1987 · 691 bridges
St. Louis County, MN · avg 1987 · 663 bridges
Palm Beach County, FL · avg 1987 · 610 bridges

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

All 229 Good 111 Fair 91 Poor 27

Fair-condition bridges (91)

Sort:

Rockingham County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Rockingham County's Poor-condition bridges carry 148,965 vehicle crossings a day

38% of Rockingham County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 16.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Rockingham 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

Fair-condition bridges (91)

SR1402

BRYAN ST.

SR2150

SR1914

SR1982

SR2321

SR3003

SR2153

PARK ROAD

SR1002

SR2150

SR1700

SR1740

SR1145

SR1516

SR1001

SR2392

SR2614

NC14

SR2380

NC135

SR1951

SR2557

SR1900

SR2670

US29

NC87

SR2316

NC14

US29BUS

NC14

NC704

SR1768

SR3002

US311 NC770

SR2308

SR1129

SR2327

SR1945

US29

US220

SR2437

SR1747

SR2552

DRUM ROAD

SR2350

SR2552

SR1925

SR2556

US158

Related