County profile · official public datasets

Brown County, OH

223 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 62.8% rated Good, 34.1% Fair, 3.1% Poor.

223
Public bridges: 62.8%
Good condition: 3.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 44%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.1%
Poor-condition share: 223
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.

Brown County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Brown County ranks #39 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.1%). Brown County, Ohio contains 223 public highway bridges. Roughly 62.8% are rated “Good,” 34.1% “Fair,” and 3.1% “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

223

Public highway bridges in Brown County

Good condition

62.8%

140 of 223 rated 7-9

Fair condition

34.1%

76 of 223 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.1%

7 of 223 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#39 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 223 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

62.8% (140)

Fair

34.1% (76)

Poor

3.1% (7)

Brown County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,630 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,661 crossings a day against 916 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 223 of 223 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

43.9% of Brown County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

98 of the 223 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 62.8% 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 55.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

BUS.62 over OHIO RIVER CSX RR LOCAL, built 1931, carries 6,478 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 7-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 11,630 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

3
1900s

3
1910s

1
1920s

5
1930s

12
1940s

14
1950s

32
1960s

19
1970s

23
1980s

28
1990s

39
2000s

28
2010s

10
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 39 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Ohio average (1977).

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Brown County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Brown County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Jefferson County	226	44.2%	47.3%	8.4%	1966
Erie County	225	66.7%	32.9%	0.4%	1977
Pickaway County	224	62.9%	34.8%	2.2%	1964
Brown County (this page)	223	62.8%	34.1%	3.1%	1974
Crawford County	221	74.2%	23.1%	2.7%	1981
Union County	221	68.8%	29.9%	1.4%	1984

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (223 bridges here).

Woodford County, IL · 223 bridges
Ford County, KS · 223 bridges
Hardin County, KY · 223 bridges
Stanton County, NE · 223 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 223 Good 140 Fair 76 Poor 7

All bridges (223)

Sort:

Brown County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Brown County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,630 vehicle crossings a day

43.9% of Brown County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 55.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Brown 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 (223)

SR 221

SR 221

STATE ROUTE 763

SR 763

OLD 68

MYERS HOLLOW ROAD

STONY HOLLOW ROAD

GREATHOUSE ROAD

DAYHILL ARNHEIM RD

JOHN WOODS RD

RIPLEY RD

HILE RD.

EASTWOOD RD

UPPER FIVE MILE

KERNAN RD.

ANDERSON STATE

MORGAN RD.

STATE ROUTE 763

SR 125

SR 763

USR 68

SR 131

SR 286

US 52

US 62

STERLING ROAD

FLAUGHER HILL ROAD

BEALER ROAD

OLD A&P RD.

ANDERSON STATE RD

EAGLE CREEK ROAD

BEECH GROVE ROAD

DOWNING ROAD

HARTMAN ROAD

THOMAS ROAD

STRAIGHT CREEK RD.

SR 763

SR 763

DAYHILL ARNHEIM RD

KLINKER RD

CAMPBELL ROAD

EASTSIDE RD

COTHAR RD

NORTHPOLE RD

HAMER RD

SEIP RD

EDEN RD

STEPHANS RD

SR 505

OLD 68

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