County profile · official public datasets

Adams County, OH

184 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.9% rated Good, 52.2% Fair, 4.9% Poor.

184
Public bridges: 42.9%
Good condition: 4.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

48th
of 88 on Poor share: 4.9%
Poor-condition share: 184
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Adams County ranks #48 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.9%). Adams County, Ohio contains 184 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.9% are rated “Good,” 52.2% “Fair,” and 4.9% “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

184

Public highway bridges in Adams County

Good condition

42.9%

79 of 184 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.2%

96 of 184 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.9%

9 of 184 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#48 of 88

Among Ohio counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 184 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.9% (79)

Fair

52.2% (96)

Poor

4.9% (9)

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,227 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 359 crossings a day against 802 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 184 of 184 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.2% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

96 of the 184 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 42.9% 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 17.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

OLD 32 over EAST FK OHIO BRUSH CREEK, built 1968, carries 571 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,227 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

3
1910s

1
1920s

5
1930s

20
1940s

8
1950s

12
1960s

23
1970s

31
1980s

18
1990s

17
2000s

14
2010s

23
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 31 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Ohio average (1977).

How Adams County compares with Ohio's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Adams County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.9% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 6 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 87 Ohio counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Adams County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Champaign County	192	87.5%	11.5%	1%	1981
Coshocton County	186	46.8%	42.5%	10.8%	1984
Adams County (this page)	184	42.9%	52.2%	4.9%	1974
Vinton County	179	50.3%	41.3%	8.4%	1977
Paulding County	176	69.3%	24.4%	6.3%	1986
Perry County	175	66.9%	31.4%	1.7%	1974

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 Adams 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 Adams County, both outside Ohio so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (184 bridges here).

Independence County, AR · 184 bridges
Mills County, IA · 184 bridges
Henderson County, KY · 184 bridges
Box Elder County, UT · 184 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Pierce County, WA · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 184 Good 79 Fair 96 Poor 9

All bridges (184)

Sort:

Adams County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Adams County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,227 vehicle crossings a day

52.2% of Adams County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Adams County compares with Ohio'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 (184)

ARMSTRONG ROAD

ISLAND CREEK RD.

JAYBIRD RD.

COMPTON HILL RD.

BLUE CREEK RD

WHITE PINE RD

SR 41

US 52

US 52

SR 73

SR 73

S.R.73

S.R.73

STATE ROUTE 136

SR 348

SR 348

SR 348

SR 770

SR 781

FAWCETT ROAD

RIPLEY PIKE RD

Eckmansville Road

POPLAR GROVE RD.

WARD ROAD

NICHOLS RIDGE RD.

PENCE ROAD

DAVIS MEMORIAL RD.

Beasley Fork Road

Strait Creek Road

Churn Creek Road

BUCKRUN ROAD

BLUE CREEK ROAD

EAGLE CREEK RD.

STARLEY GUSTIN RD

SR 770

SR 41

HOG RUN ROAD

ROSSELOTT ROAD

JONES ROAD

FAWCETT RD

MINERAL SPRINGS RD

FLAT RUN RD

CLOUGH RD.

SR 32

WEST FORK ROAD

CHURCH

SOUTHDOWN RD.

SR 32

SR 32

SR73

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