Total bridges
353
Public highway bridges in Union County
County profile · official public datasets
Union County, NC
353 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 46.5% rated Good, 49.3% Fair, 4.2% Poor.
- 353
- Public bridges
- 46.5%
- Good condition
- 4.2%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Union County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
- Top 43%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 4.2%
- Poor-condition share
- 353
- public highway bridges
- 1991
- 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.
Union County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Union County ranks #43 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.2%). Union County, North Carolina contains 353 public highway bridges. Roughly 46.5% are rated “Good,” 49.3% “Fair,” and 4.2% “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.
Good condition
46.5%
164 of 353 rated 7-9
Fair condition
49.3%
174 of 353 rated 5-6
Poor condition
4.2%
15 of 353 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#43 of 100
Among North Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 353 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 46.5% (164)
Fair 49.3% (174)
Poor 4.2% (15)
Union County's Poor-condition bridges carry 30,900 vehicle crossings a day
That is 1.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,060 crossings a day against 8,171 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 353 of 353 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
28.3% of Union County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
100 of the 353 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 46.5% 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 23.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
SR1315 over UT TO E FORK TWELVE MI C, built 1968, carries 7,300 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 30,900 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Union County's bridges were built
353 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 6
1920–1929
6 bridges
- 1930s 3
1930–1939
3 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1950s 35
1950–1959
35 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
45 bridges
- 1970s 18
1970–1979
18 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
44 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
51 bridges
- 2000s 28
2000–2009
28 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
110 bridges
- 2020s 11
2020–2029
11 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 110 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1991, 5 years newer than the North Carolina average of 1986.
How Union County compares with North Carolina's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Union County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.2% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1991 against a peer-group mean of 1987 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 99 North Carolina counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union County (this page) | 353 | 46.5% | 49.3% | 4.2% | 1991 |
| Wilkes County | 349 | 32.1% | 53.3% | 14.6% | 1983 |
| Cumberland County | 348 | 67.2% | 31.9% | 0.9% | 1992 |
| Davidson County | 340 | 42.9% | 52.9% | 4.1% | 1988 |
| Iredell County | 335 | 35.2% | 54.6% | 10.1% | 1981 |
| Johnston County | 318 | 42.1% | 53.5% | 4.4% | 1989 |
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 Union 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 Union County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NC (353 bridges here).
- Whatcom County, WA · 354 bridges
- Peoria County, IL · 352 bridges
- Henrico County, VA · 352 bridges
- Hendricks County, IN · 355 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1991 here).
- Denver County, CO · avg 1991 · 458 bridges
- Baldwin County, AL · avg 1991 · 381 bridges
- Rock County, MN · avg 1991 · 265 bridges
- Alcorn County, MS · avg 1991 · 213 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (174)
US74
FairOver: RAYS FORK BRANCH
0.25 MI. E. JCT. SR1963, Union, NC
Built 1941 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 20,500
SR1117
FairOver: CANE CREEK
0.15 MI. S. JCT. SR1121, Union, NC
Built 1990 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,000
SR1102
FairOver: UT TO WAXHAW CREEK
0.3 MI. E. JCT. SR1101, Union, NC
Built 1988 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 180
SR1128
FairOver: UT TO WAXHAW CREEK
0.1 MI. W. JCT. SR1137, Union, NC
Built 1994 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 440
SR1162
FairOver: MOLLY BRANCH CREEK
0.4 MI. N. JCT. SR1315, Union, NC
Built 1982 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 4,000
SR1327
FairOver: BATES BRANCH
0.5 MI. S. JCT. SR1328, Union, NC
Built 1997 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 3,200
SR1338
FairOver: W.FORK TWELVE MILE CREEK
0.6 MI. S. JCT. SR1346, Union, NC
Built 1990 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,400
SR1365
FairOver: N. FORK CROOKED CREEK
0.3 MI. S. JCT. SR1524, Union, NC
Built 1984 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 13,000
SR1525
FairOver: PADDLE BRANCH
0.4 MI .N. JCT. SR1004, Union, NC
Built 1981 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 2,600
SR1353
FairOver: E. FORK TWELVE MILE CREE
0.8 MI. W. JCT. SR1009, Union, NC
Built 1989 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 9,500
SR1305
FairOver: UT TO TWELVE MILE CREEK
0.2 MI. W. JCT. SR1301, Union, NC
Built 1988 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 430
SR2168
FairOver: UT TO POLECAT CREEK
0.4 MI. N. JCT. SR2166, Union, NC
Built 1993 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 80
SR1622
FairOver: STUMPLICK BRANCH
0.3 MI. W. JCT. SR1621, Union, NC
Built 1990 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 520
SR1943
FairOver: LANES CREEK
0.5 MI. W. JCT. SR1003, Union, NC
Built 1989 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 150
SR1610
FairOver: GRASSY BRANCH CREEK
0.75 MI. E. JCT. SR1601, Union, NC
Built 1984 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 200
SR1653
FairOver: GRASSY CREEK
100 FT. E. JCT. SR1001, Union, NC
Built 1991 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 250
SR1733
FairOver: WIDE MOUTH BRANCH
0.2 MI. N. JCT. US74, Union, NC
Built 1996 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 100
SR1533
FairOver: UT TO GOOSE CREEK
0.3 MI. W. JCT. SR1534, Union, NC
Built 1990 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 160
SR1501
FairOver: STEWARTS CREEK
0.2 MI. S. JCT. SR1503, Union, NC
Built 1960 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 10,500
SR1971
FairOver: UT TO WICKER BRANCH
0.4 MI. E. JCT. US601, Union, NC
Built 1999 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 500
SR2649
FairOver: UT TO S.FORK CROOKED CRK
0.1 MI. S. JCT. US74, Union, NC
Built 1980 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 400
BRANDON OAKS PKWY
FairOver: UT TO PRICE MILL CREEK
1.1MI.S.JCT. SR1009, Union, NC
Built 2008 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 6,000
LAKE DRIVE
FairOver: UT TO GOOSE CREEK
400EAST OF FAIRFIELD DR., Union, NC
Built 1980 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 500
SHARON DR.
FairOver: RONE BRANCH
0.01 MI. E. JCT. ANNE AV., Union, NC
Built 2021 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 100
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.