County profile · official public datasets

Knox County, OH

274 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.4% rated Good, 40.1% Fair, 5.5% Poor.

274
Public bridges
54.4%
Good condition
5.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

55th
of 88 on Poor share
5.5%
Poor-condition share
274
public highway bridges
1980
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.

Knox County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Knox County ranks #55 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.5%). Knox County, Ohio contains 274 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.4% are rated “Good,” 40.1% “Fair,” and 5.5% “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

274

Public highway bridges in Knox County

Good condition

54.4%

149 of 274 rated 7-9

Fair condition

40.1%

110 of 274 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.5%

15 of 274 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#55 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 274 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
54.4% (149)
Fair
40.1% (110)
Poor
5.5% (15)

Knox County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,343 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 356 crossings a day against 1,974 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 274 of 274 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

32.5% of Knox County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

89 of the 274 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 54.4% 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 23.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

HOWARD DANVILLE over LITTLE JELLOWAY CREEK, built 1915, carries 1,277 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,343 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Knox County's bridges were built

274 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 62 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1980) matches the Ohio average (1977).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Knox County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Knox County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Logan County 281 1.1%
Shelby County 277 2.5%
Hardin County 276 7.2%
Seneca County 275 1.5%
Knox County (this page) 274 5.5%
Delaware County 268 2.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (274 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1980 here).

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

All 274 Good 149 Fair 110 Poor 15

All bridges (274)

SR 3

Good

Over: SCHENCK CREEK

1.5 M N OF JCT SR 768, Knox, OH

Built 1950 Load: 53.8 t ADT: 6,641

USR 36

Good

Over: USR 62

Intersection of US36&US62, Knox, OH

Built 2019 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 2,400

GREEN VALLEY ROAD

Good

Over: KOKOSING RIVER

0.4 MI WEST OF SR13, Knox, OH

Built 2016 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 667

PATTON ROAD

Good

Over: DRY CREEK

0.08 MI SOUTH OF SR3/US36, Knox, OH

Built 2022 Load: 56.7 t ADT: 96

SYCAMORE RD

Good

Over: BRANCH OF BIG RUN

JUNC OF SPRAY LANE, Knox, OH

Built 2013 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 247

GROVE CHURCH RD

Good

Over: STREAM

.1 MI NORTH OF DEAL RD, Knox, OH

Built 2013 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 444

BILLMAN RD

Good

Over: STREAM (INDIANFIELD RUN)

0.2 MI S OF SR 229, Knox, OH

Built 2013 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 209

CR 7

Good

Over: TRIB OF DELANO RUN

.2 MI NORTH OF SR 661, Knox, OH

Built 2013 Load: 64.8 t ADT: 4,805

SYCAMORE ROAD

Good

Over: BRANCH OF BIG RUN

0.1 MILE EAST OF DEVORE, Knox, OH

Built 2015 Load: 68.0 t ADT: 223

COOKE ROAD

Poor

Over: TRIB. N. BR. KOKOSING

0.3 MI SOUTH OF BLAIR RD, Knox, OH

Built 1896 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 40

MILE CREEK ROAD

Poor

Over: MILE CREEK

0.1 MI SOUTH OF SPARTA RD, Knox, OH

Built 1926 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 155

KRAUSE ROAD

Poor

Over: NORTH FORK LICKING RIVER

0.3 MI NORTH OF CR 53, Knox, OH

Built 1950 Load: 3.2 t ADT: 209

KINNEY ROAD

Poor

Over: DRY CREEK

0.5 MI SOUTH OF US 36, Knox, OH

Built 1975 Load: 7.5 t ADT: 323

HOWARD DANVILLE

Poor

Over: LITTLE JELLOWAY CREEK

JUNCTION OF MAGERS ROAD, Knox, OH

Built 1915 Load: 9.7 t ADT: 1,277

MILLWOOD ROAD

Poor

Over: KOKOSING RIVER

JUNCTION OF ENDSLEY ROAD, Knox, OH

Built 1900 Load: 13.0 t ADT: 355

KAY ROAD

Poor

Over: TRIB. OF MOHICAN RIVER

0.1 MI SOUTH OF JERICHO, Knox, OH

Built 1933 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 40

PLEASANT VALLEY

Poor

Over: DRY RUN

0.1 MI WEST OF US 36, Knox, OH

Built 1985 Load: 20.1 t ADT: 324

BIG RUN

Poor

Over: TRIBUTARY OF BIG RUN

0.5 MI SOUTH OF SR 229, Knox, OH

Built 1973 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 159

SYCAMORE ROAD

Poor

Over: BRANCH OF BIG RUN

0.1 MI SOUTH OF FEASEL, Knox, OH

Built 1936 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 266

VINCENT ROAD

Poor

Over: COLEMAN BRANCH

0.1 MI WEST OF BERRY, Knox, OH

Built 1900 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 179

BECKLEY ROAD

Poor

Over: NORTH BRANCH KOKOSING

0.2 MI WEST OF CR 6, Knox, OH

Built 1904 Load: 29.2 t ADT: 816

SHADLEY VALLEY

Poor

Over: SHADLEY VALLEY CREEK

JUNCTION OF US 205, Knox, OH

Built 1970 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 324

AUSTIN ROAD

Poor

Over: HONEY RUN

0.1 MI S. OF HAZEL DELL, Knox, OH

Built 1900 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 40

SR 514

Poor

Over: TRIB OF MOHICAN RIVER

4.7 M N OF JCT SR 205, Knox, OH

Built 1995 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 836

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.