County profile · official public datasets

Wilkes County, NC

349 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.1% rated Good, 53.3% Fair, 14.6% Poor.

349
Public bridges: 32.1%
Good condition: 14.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

92nd
of 100 on Poor share: 14.6%
Poor-condition share: 349
public highway bridges: 1983
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.

Wilkes County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wilkes County ranks #92 of 100 North Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 14.6%). Wilkes County, North Carolina contains 349 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.1% are rated “Good,” 53.3% “Fair,” and 14.6% “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

349

Public highway bridges in Wilkes County

Good condition

32.1%

112 of 349 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.3%

186 of 349 rated 5-6

Poor condition

14.6%

51 of 349 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#92 of 100

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

Condition distribution

Share of 349 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.1% (112)

Fair

53.3% (186)

Poor

14.6% (51)

Wilkes County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,785 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 14.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,133 crossings a day against 1,884 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 349 of 349 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.3% of Wilkes County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

158 of the 349 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 32.1% 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 31.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US421B over REDDIES RIVER, built 1935, carries 18,000 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 51-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 57,785 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

3
1930s

7
1950s

27
1960s

116
1970s

21
1980s

28
1990s

32
2000s

47
2010s

55
2020s

13

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 116 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1983) matches the North Carolina average (1986).

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

The 5 North Carolina counties nearest Wilkes County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 14.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1983 against a peer-group mean of 1988 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Wilkes County and the 5 North Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Union County	353	46.5%	49.3%	4.2%	1991
Wilkes County (this page)	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 Wilkes 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 Wilkes County, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside NC (349 bridges here).

Labette County, KS · 349 bridges
Guernsey County, OH · 350 bridges
Parker County, TX · 350 bridges
Fillmore County, MN · 348 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside NC (1983 here).

Dallas County, TX · avg 1983 · 3,230 bridges
Bexar County, TX · avg 1983 · 2,342 bridges
Sedgwick County, KS · avg 1983 · 1,333 bridges
Will County, IL · avg 1983 · 649 bridges

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

All 349 Good 112 Fair 186 Poor 51

All bridges (349)

Sort:

Wilkes County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Wilkes County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,785 vehicle crossings a day

45.3% of Wilkes County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 31.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Wilkes 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 (349)

SR1736

US421 NBL

US421 BYP. NBL

SR2510

SR1993

SR1131

SR1162

SR1300

SR2483

SR1715

SR2400

SR1728

SR2082

US421

SR1730

SR1707

SR2400

US421

SR1349

SR1728

SR2011

US421

US421

SR1135

SR1570

SR1567

SR1716

SR2309

SR2308

SR1300

SR1918

SR1001

SR2038

SR2041

SR1540

SR1123

SR1725

SR1301

SR2149

SR1706

SR2318

SR2022SR2022

SR1130

SR1313

US421 BYP

SR2321

SR2413

SR2425

SR1301

SR2414

Related