County profile · official public datasets

Franklin County, OH

922 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 72.2% rated Good, 25.8% Fair, 2% Poor.

922
Public bridges: 72.2%
Good condition: 2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Franklin County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across large county bridge inventory.

Top 23%
lowest Poor share in state: 2%
Poor-condition share: 922
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Franklin County ranks #20 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2%). Franklin County, Ohio contains 922 public highway bridges. Roughly 72.2% are rated “Good,” 25.8% “Fair,” and 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.

Total bridges

922

Public highway bridges in Franklin County

Good condition

72.2%

666 of 922 rated 7-9

Fair condition

25.8%

238 of 922 rated 5-6

Poor condition

18 of 922 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#20 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 922 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

72.2% (666)

Fair

25.8% (238)

Poor

2% (18)

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 223,837 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 12,435 crossings a day against 28,432 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 922 of 922 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

46.3% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

427 of the 922 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 72.2% 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 27.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-70 over IR 70W OVER SCIOTO RIVER, built 1975, carries 61,022 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 18-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 223,837 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1900s

9
1910s

5
1920s

7
1930s

14
1940s

18
1950s

38
1960s

214
1970s

169
1980s

67
1990s

157
2000s

116
2010s

84
2020s

23

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 214 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Ohio average (1977).

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Franklin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Franklin County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Franklin County (this page)	922	72.2%	25.8%	2%	1981
Cuyahoga County	871	43.2%	47.2%	9.6%	1969
Hamilton County	783	57.5%	39.6%	2.9%	1970
Montgomery County	632	67.2%	30.1%	2.7%	1981
Summit County	563	55.4%	42.3%	2.3%	1974
Wood County	508	64.2%	31.5%	4.3%	1980

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (922 bridges here).

Fresno County, CA · 916 bridges
Jackson County, MO · 930 bridges
St. Louis County, MO · 912 bridges
Hennepin County, MN · 936 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1981 here).

Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges
Shawnee County, KS · avg 1981 · 563 bridges
Pottawattamie County, IA · avg 1981 · 557 bridges

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

All 922 Good 666 Fair 238 Poor 18

Fair-condition bridges (238)

Sort:

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 223,837 vehicle crossings a day

46.3% of Franklin County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 27.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Franklin 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

Fair-condition bridges (238)

I-270

US 23

I.R. 270

I.R. 270

I.R. 270

I.R.270

I.R.270

I.R.270

I.R.270

I-270

I-270

I-70

I-270

IR 270

SR 315

WILSON BRIDGE RD

SR 315

ST 315

ST 315

Hamilton Rd- SR317

SR 665

RAMP P 670W-23N

TRABUE RD

W. NORTH BROADWAY

FIFTH AVE

GANTZ RD

OHARRA RD

HOOVER RD

WAGGONER RD

TRABUE RD

OREGON RD

MAIN ST

CLARK STATE RD

FISHINGER RD

BOWEN RD

SCIOTO DARBY CR RD

THIRD AVE

DUBLIN RD

GREENSWARD ROAD

USR 33

I270 C-D ROAD

SR 315

COLUMBUS ST

MARLANE DR

VAUSE RD

RINGS RD.

SMOTHERS RD

WILSON RD

RAMP TO 71SB

SR 317

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