County profile · official public datasets

Transylvania County, NC

162 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.7% rated Good, 45.7% Fair, 13.6% Poor.

162
Public bridges
40.7%
Good condition
13.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Transylvania 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.

90th
of 100 on Poor share
13.6%
Poor-condition share
162
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.

Transylvania County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Transylvania County ranks #90 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13.6%). Transylvania County, North Carolina contains 162 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.7% are rated “Good,” 45.7% “Fair,” and 13.6% “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

162

Public highway bridges in Transylvania County

Good condition

40.7%

66 of 162 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.7%

74 of 162 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13.6%

22 of 162 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#90 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 162 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
40.7% (66)
Fair
45.7% (74)
Poor
13.6% (22)

Transylvania County's Poor-condition bridges carry 54,950 vehicle crossings a day

That is 16.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,498 crossings a day against 1,871 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 162 of 162 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

46.3% of Transylvania County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

75 of the 162 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 40.7% 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 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US64 over ABANDONED SOUTHERN RR, built 1966, carries 15,500 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 22-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 54,950 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Transylvania County's bridges were built

162 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 5 years older than the North Carolina average of 1986.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Transylvania County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13.6% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 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 Transylvania County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Brunswick County 166 6%
Cherokee County 163 4.3%
Stanly County 163 3.1%
Yancey County 163 16.6%
Transylvania County (this page) 162 13.6%
Halifax County 158 1.9%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (162 bridges here).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 162 Good 66 Fair 74 Poor 22

Poor-condition bridges (22)

SR1598

Poor

Over: TURKEY CREEK

.1 MI.S.JCT.NC280, Transylvania, NC

Built 1968 Load: 8.1 t ADT: 660

NFSR 140

Poor

Over: COURTHOUSE CREEK

2.9 MI. N. JCT. NC 215, Transylvania, NC

Built 1939 Load: 8.4 t ADT: 10

RAILROAD AVENUE

Poor

Over: KINGS CREEK

20 S.JCT.COMMERCE ST., Transylvania, NC

Built 1955 Load: 9.0 t ADT: 300

SR1361

Poor

Over: TURKEY CREEK

.03 MI.S.JCT.SR1360, Transylvania, NC

Built 1961 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 490

SR1141

Poor

Over: SHOAL CREEK

.7 MI.W.JCT.SR1206, Transylvania, NC

Built 1963 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 250

SR1540

Poor

Over: WILLIAMSON CREEK

.2 MI.N.JCT.SR1580, Transylvania, NC

Built 1976 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 4,000

SR1319

Poor

Over: NORTH FORK FLAT CREEK

.2 MI.W.JCT.SR1316, Transylvania, NC

Built 1962 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 30

SR1309

Poor

Over: W.FORK FRENCH BROAD RVR

1.6 MI.S.JCT.SR1322, Transylvania, NC

Built 1958 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 850

SR1533

Poor

Over: FRENCH BROAD RIVER

.4 MI.E.JCT.SR1504, Transylvania, NC

Built 1958 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 3,500

SR1592

Poor

Over: LAMB CREEK

.2 MI.E.JCT.US64 276, Transylvania, NC

Built 1971 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 3,100

SR1580

Poor

Over: WILLIAMSON CREEK

.2 MI.E.JCT.SR1596, Transylvania, NC

Built 1972 Load: 19.9 t ADT: 200

SR1159

Poor

Over: CATHEY CREEK

.1 MI.E.JCT.SR1199, Transylvania, NC

Built 1923 Load: 21.7 t ADT: 320

SR1322

Poor

Over: N.FORK FRENCH BROAD RVR.

.2 MI.W.JCT.NC215, Transylvania, NC

Built 1961 Load: 23.5 t ADT: 100

US178

Poor

Over: BROWNS MILL CREEK

.06 MI.S.JCT.SR1156, Transylvania, NC

Built 1978 Load: 24.4 t ADT: 1,400

US64 EBL

Poor

Over: DAVIDSON RIVER

.1 MI.W.JCT.US276 NC280, Transylvania, NC

Built 1957 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 13,500

SR1536

Poor

Over: BUCKHORN CREEK

25 FT.S.JCT.SR1560, Transylvania, NC

Built 1960 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 660

SR1135

Poor

Over: FRENCH BROAD RIVER

.05 MI.W.JCT.US178, Transylvania, NC

Built 1957 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 320

NC281

Poor

Over: WHITEWATER RIVER

2.6 MI.S.JCT.SR1150, Transylvania, NC

Built 1967 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 550

SR1309

Poor

Over: PARKER CREEK

20 FT.N.JCT.SR1310, Transylvania, NC

Built 1962 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 400

US64

Poor

Over: GASH CREEK

.2 MI.W.JCT.SR1502, Transylvania, NC

Built 1952 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 8,600

US64

Poor

Over: ABANDONED SOUTHERN RR

.01 MI.W.JCT.SR1344, Transylvania, NC

Built 1966 Load: 33.5 t ADT: 15,500

SR1560

Poor

Over: LITTLE RIVER

1.2 MI.E.JCT.SR1536, Transylvania, NC

Built 1957 Load: 59.8 t ADT: 210

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
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.