Total bridges
59
Public highway bridges in Washington County
County profile · official public datasets
Washington County, NC
59 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.2% rated Good, 44.1% Fair, 1.7% Poor.
- 59
- Public bridges
- 54.2%
- Good condition
- 1.7%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Washington County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.
- Top 15%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 1.7%
- Poor-condition share
- 59
- public highway bridges
- 1989
- 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.
Washington County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #15 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.7%). Washington County, North Carolina contains 59 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.2% are rated “Good,” 44.1% “Fair,” and 1.7% “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.
Good condition
54.2%
32 of 59 rated 7-9
Fair condition
44.1%
26 of 59 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1.7%
1 of 59 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#15 of 100
Among North Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 59 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 54.2% (32)
Fair 44.1% (26)
Poor 1.7% (1)
Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,000 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,000 crossings a day against 2,488 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 59 of 59 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
28.8% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
17 of the 59 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 54.2% 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 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
NC32 NC37 NC94 over ALBEMARLE SOUND, built 1990, carries 4,000 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 1-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 4,000 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Washington County's bridges were built
59 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 1
1920–1929
1 bridges
- 1930s 1
1930–1939
1 bridges
- 1940s 1
1940–1949
1 bridges
- 1950s 4
1950–1959
4 bridges
- 1960s 9
1960–1969
9 bridges
- 1970s 2
1970–1979
2 bridges
- 1980s 4
1980–1989
4 bridges
- 1990s 4
1990–1999
4 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
26 bridges
- 2010s 7
2010–2019
7 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 44.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1989) matches the North Carolina average (1986).
How Washington County compares with North Carolina's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.7% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1990 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay County | 63 | 44.4% | 52.4% | 3.2% | 1973 |
| Greene County | 62 | 43.5% | 56.5% | 0% | 1989 |
| Washington County (this page) | 59 | 54.2% | 44.1% | 1.7% | 1989 |
| Hertford County | 58 | 58.6% | 37.9% | 3.4% | 1998 |
| Carteret County | 55 | 41.8% | 54.5% | 3.6% | 1992 |
| Pasquotank County | 54 | 59.3% | 38.9% | 1.9% | 1998 |
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 Washington 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 Washington County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NC (59 bridges here).
- San Miguel County, CO · 59 bridges
- Glades County, FL · 59 bridges
- Red Lake County, MN · 59 bridges
- Marion County, TX · 59 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1989 here).
- Harris County, TX · avg 1989 · 4,029 bridges
- Buffalo County, NE · avg 1989 · 459 bridges
- Brazos County, TX · avg 1989 · 370 bridges
- Dubuque County, IA · avg 1989 · 346 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (26)
SR1114
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.2 MI E JCT NC32 BUS., Washington, NC
Built 1952 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 1,500
SR1122
FairOver: MAIN CANAL
.05 MI.W.JCT.SR1126, Washington, NC
Built 1964 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 360
SR1142
FairOver: SCUPPERNONG RIVER
0.3MI.E. OF JCT.SR1159, Washington, NC
Built 1959 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 631
SR1122
FairOver: MACKEYS CREEK
0.1 MI.E.JCT.SR1119, Washington, NC
Built 1936 Load: 20.8 t ADT: 870
NC94
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
0.5 MI.E.JCT.SR1303, Washington, NC
Built 1966 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 2,400
SR1325
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.1MI.W.JCT.SR1300, Washington, NC
Built 1953 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 2,000
SR1125
FairOver: KENDRICK CREEK
0.1 MI W. OF JCT SR1127, Washington, NC
Built 1964 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 780
SR1112
FairOver: CREEK
0.5 MI E JCT NC45, Washington, NC
Built 1980 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 240
SR1149
FairOver: MOCCASIN CANAL
0.1 MI.W. OF JCT.SR1155, Washington, NC
Built 1978 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 460
NC32
FairOver: VAN SWAMP
1.0 MI.S.JCT.SR1101, Washington, NC
Built 1960 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,700
US64
FairOver: KENDRICK CREEK
.05 MI. E. OF JCT. SR1301, Washington, NC
Built 1960 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 3,100
NC32
FairOver: MAIN CANAL
0.05 MI.W. OF JCT.SR1126, Washington, NC
Built 1960 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 2,550
NC32
FairOver: CHAPEL SWAMP
0.5 MI. N. JCT. SR1136, Washington, NC
Built 1957 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 1,600
NC32
FairOver: CANAL
0.1 MI. W. JCT. SR1119, Washington, NC
Built 1970 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 4,200
NC32
FairOver: OLD MILL CREEK
0.5 MI.W. OF JCT.SR1133, Washington, NC
Built 1922 Load: 36.2 t ADT: 1,400
SR1179
FairOver: CANAL A
0.4 MI E JCT SR1127, Washington, NC
Built 1965 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 160
NC32
FairOver: WHITES CREEK
0.3 MI.E. OF JCT.SR1136, Washington, NC
Built 2011 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,300
SR1342
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.5 MI N JCT US64, Washington, NC
Built 1969 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 2,300
US64E
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.1 MI.E. OF JCT. NC32, Washington, NC
Built 1949 Load: 46.2 t ADT: 19,500
NC45 NC308
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.4 MI N. OF JCT SR1300, Washington, NC
Built 1967 Load: 47.1 t ADT: 3,300
SR1302
FairOver: DEEP CREEK
0.3 MI N. OF JCT SR1303, Washington, NC
Built 1983 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 380
SR1115
FairOver: BR. OF CONABY CREEK
0.1 MI.E.JCT.NC45, Washington, NC
Built 2010 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 530
SR1126
FairOver: CANAL
1.5 MI.W.JCT.SR1149, Washington, NC
Built 1986 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 380
NC45
FairOver: CONABY CREEK
0.1 MI S. OF JCT SR1114, Washington, NC
Built 1994 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,800
SR1155
FairOver: MALL CREEK
0.2 MI. S. OF JCT. SR1126, Washington, NC
Built 1984 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 600
SR1183
FairOver: CANAL TO PHELPS LAKE
3.0 MI S. OF JCT SR1126, Washington, NC
Built 1990 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 170
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.