County profile · official public datasets

Highland County, OH

245 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 69.8% rated Good, 28.2% Fair, 2% Poor.

245
Public bridges: 69.8%
Good condition: 2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Highland County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 25%
lowest Poor share in state: 2%
Poor-condition share: 245
public highway bridges: 1985
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.

Highland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Highland County ranks #22 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2%). Highland County, Ohio contains 245 public highway bridges. Roughly 69.8% are rated “Good,” 28.2% “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

245

Public highway bridges in Highland County

Good condition

69.8%

171 of 245 rated 7-9

Fair condition

28.2%

69 of 245 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5 of 245 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#22 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 245 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

69.8% (171)

Fair

28.2% (69)

Poor

2% (5)

Highland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,521 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,904 crossings a day against 1,011 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 245 of 245 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

28.2% of Highland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

69 of the 245 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 69.8% 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 49.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 62 over CLEAR CREEK, built 1934, carries 7,161 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 14,521 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

2
1940s

3
1950s

18
1960s

21
1970s

52
1980s

43
1990s

51
2000s

25
2010s

24
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 8 years newer than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Highland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Highland County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Morrow County	250	62%	29.6%	8.4%	1978
Lawrence County	249	26.1%	64.3%	9.6%	1966
Pike County	245	65.7%	27.8%	6.5%	1988
Highland County (this page)	245	69.8%	28.2%	2%	1985
Williams County	242	52.5%	45%	2.5%	1974
Fayette County	241	60.2%	39%	0.8%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (245 bridges here).

Allegany County, MD · 245 bridges
Henderson County, NC · 245 bridges
Rowan County, NC · 245 bridges
Grimes County, TX · 245 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1985 here).

Hillsborough County, FL · avg 1985 · 840 bridges
Lancaster County, NE · avg 1985 · 661 bridges
Nueces County, TX · avg 1985 · 528 bridges
Grayson County, TX · avg 1985 · 513 bridges

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

All 245 Good 171 Fair 69 Poor 5

Good-condition bridges (171)

Sort:

Highland County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Highland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,521 vehicle crossings a day

28.2% of Highland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 49.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Highland 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

Good-condition bridges (171)

STRAIGHTCREEK #239

GREENBUSH RD #39

Duncanson RD #139

CAVE RD #259

STATE ROUTE 506

FLAT RUN RD.

ROBINSON RD #149

North Union RD.

CAVE RD #259

WINKLE RD #142

Spruance Rd.

CAVE RD #259

BURGESS RD.

MUHLBACHRD #97

Williams#103

HOLLADAY RD #225

CODY RD.

Skeen Rd.

EAST DEADFALL RD.

SHAWBAKER RD #156

SMART RD.

SR 28

WALKER RD.

NEWKIRK LN #241

OAK LEAF RD #106

DRAGOO RD #50

SELF RD. #79

SANDERS RD #29

CAREYTOWN RD #10

Hardins Creek #15

SR 138

SR 247

Careytown Rd

ROUNDHEAD RD #11

HEREFORD RD #406

GREGORY RD #206

GATH RD #2

PIGEON ROOST RD.

BRIDGES RD# 11

COUNTY RD #27

BRIDGES RD #11

KELCH RD #138

SR 247

North Shore

WEST DEADFALL RD.

RAMMEL RD #127

ZION RD.

PEACH ORCHARD RD.

Post Ln

MONROE RD #15

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