County profile · official public datasets

Jefferson County, OH

226 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.2% rated Good, 47.3% Fair, 8.4% Poor.

226
Public bridges: 44.2%
Good condition: 8.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Jefferson County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

73rd
of 88 on Poor share: 8.4%
Poor-condition share: 226
public highway bridges: 1966
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.

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jefferson County ranks #73 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.4%). Jefferson County, Ohio contains 226 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.2% are rated “Good,” 47.3% “Fair,” and 8.4% “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

226

Public highway bridges in Jefferson County

Good condition

44.2%

100 of 226 rated 7-9

Fair condition

47.3%

107 of 226 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.4%

19 of 226 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#73 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 226 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

44.2% (100)

Fair

47.3% (107)

Poor

8.4% (19)

Jefferson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 65,123 vehicle crossings a day

That is 6.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,428 crossings a day against 3,917 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 226 of 226 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

61.9% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

140 of the 226 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 44.2% 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 28.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 7 over LOGAN ST, built 1961, carries 18,784 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 65,123 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1900s

17
1910s

5
1920s

15
1930s

12
1940s

1
1950s

33
1960s

37
1970s

30
1980s

9
1990s

18
2000s

11
2010s

29
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 37 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1966, 11 years older than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Jefferson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 8 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jefferson County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Marion County	229	63.8%	34.1%	2.2%	1975
Jefferson County (this page)	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	223	62.8%	34.1%	3.1%	1974
Crawford County	221	74.2%	23.1%	2.7%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (226 bridges here).

Faribault County, MN · 226 bridges
Oktibbeha County, MS · 226 bridges
Beaverhead County, MT · 226 bridges
Columbus County, NC · 226 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1966 here).

Butler County, KS · avg 1966 · 591 bridges
Grafton County, NH · avg 1966 · 544 bridges
Queens County, NY · avg 1966 · 514 bridges
Lehigh County, PA · avg 1966 · 381 bridges

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

All 226 Good 100 Fair 107 Poor 19

All bridges (226)

Sort:

Smithfield T125

Good

Over: PINEY FORK

0.1 Mi NW of St Rt 152, Jefferson, OH

Built 1875 Load: 74.5 t ADT: 209

TR1195 JOLLY ST

Good

Over: JOLLY ST. & PINEY FORK

0.08MIS OF SR152, Jefferson, OH

Built 1970 Load: 74.5 t ADT: 473

SR 152

Good

Over: OVER US 22

AT INTERCHANGE WITH US 22, Jefferson, OH

Built 1969 Load: 77.8 t ADT: 308

SR 213

Good

Over: ISLAND CREEK

4.15 MI S OF SR 152, Jefferson, OH

Built 2017 Load: 77.8 t ADT: 1,400

DRY FORK RD CR8

Good

Over: DRY FORK CREEK

0.25MI NW OF SR150, Jefferson, OH

Built 1950 Load: 81.0 t ADT: 473

SR 150

Good

Over: PINEY FORK CREEK

.35 MI E OF SR 152, Jefferson, OH

Built 1993 Load: 82.6 t ADT: 2,270

CR 74

Good

Over: CROSS CREEK

0.2-Mi S of CR28, Jefferson, OH

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Jefferson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 65,123 vehicle crossings a day

61.9% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 28.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Jefferson 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 (226)

Smithfield T125

TR1195 JOLLY ST

SR 152

SR 213

DRY FORK RD CR8

SR 150

CR 74

MARKET ST-WVA2SPUR

JEFF. CR6

SPR TR263

Ridgewood Dr

CR11 PINEY FORK RD

Jeff CR36

Know Twp Rd 289

Smithfield T134

ALEXANDER STREET

WEST STREET

SR 7 N.BOUND ONLY

SR 43

Jeff CR11

Jeff CR7

SR 213

SR 7

Knox Twp Rd 246

SR 7

SR 7

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