County profile · official public datasets

Swain County, NC

129 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25.6% rated Good, 62.8% Fair, 11.6% Poor.

129
Public bridges: 25.6%
Good condition: 11.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Swain 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.

86th
of 100 on Poor share: 11.6%
Poor-condition share: 129
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Swain County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Swain County ranks #86 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11.6%). Swain County, North Carolina contains 129 public highway bridges. Roughly 25.6% are rated “Good,” 62.8% “Fair,” and 11.6% “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

129

Public highway bridges in Swain County

Good condition

25.6%

33 of 129 rated 7-9

Fair condition

62.8%

81 of 129 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11.6%

15 of 129 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#86 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 129 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

25.6% (33)

Fair

62.8% (81)

Poor

11.6% (15)

Swain County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,495 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 166 crossings a day against 920 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 129 of 129 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.4% of Swain County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

65 of the 129 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 25.6% 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 26.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR1137 over BOWERS CREEK, built 1978, carries 650 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,495 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

3
1930s

8
1940s

3
1950s

23
1960s

20
1970s

28
1980s

13
1990s

14
2000s

7
2010s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 28 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1973, 13 years older than the North Carolina average of 1986.

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Swain County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1984 is 11 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 99 North Carolina counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Swain County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Harnett County	134	50.7%	44.8%	4.5%	1983
Swain County (this page)	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	124	45.2%	51.6%	3.2%	1988
Bladen County	123	64.2%	34.1%	1.6%	1992

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (129 bridges here).

Clay County, AL · 129 bridges
Cross County, AR · 129 bridges
Lake County, CA · 129 bridges
Lincoln County, CO · 129 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 129 Good 33 Fair 81 Poor 15

All bridges (129)

Sort:

Swain County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Swain County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,495 vehicle crossings a day

50.4% of Swain County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 26.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Swain 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 (129)

NFSR 422

NFSR 422

SR1183

SR1140

SR1141

SR1103

LEE BIRD LANE

RHODODENDRON TRAIL

OLD SOCO ROAD

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

SR1140

SR1103

BOB BLANKENSHIP RO

SR1145

STEVE WATTY ROAD

IRR BIA RTE 467

NC28

IRR SR1361

COPPERHEAD ROAD

PRIVATE DRIVE

COPPERHEAD ROAD

CAMPGROUND ENTRANC

TOW STRING ROAD

SR1138

SR1340

SR1133

SR1309

NEWFOUND GAP ROAD

NEWFOUND GAP ROAD

SMOKEMONT CAMPGROU

PRIVATE DRIVE

SR1323

SR1140

SR1103

SR1309

IRR BIA RTE 1410

IRR BIA RTE 405

SR1140

US19

WRIGHTS CREEK ROAD

US19 74

US19 74

SR1190

SR1309

IRR SR1362

US19 74

US19 74

IRR BIA RTE 410

IRR BIA RTE 1410

CASINO DRIVE

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