County profile · official public datasets

Licking County, OH

439 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 57.2% rated Good, 35.1% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

439
Public bridges: 57.2%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

68th
of 88 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 439
public highway bridges: 1988
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.

Licking County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Licking County ranks #68 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Licking County, Ohio contains 439 public highway bridges. Roughly 57.2% are rated “Good,” 35.1% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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

439

Public highway bridges in Licking County

Good condition

57.2%

251 of 439 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.1%

154 of 439 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

34 of 439 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#68 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 439 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

57.2% (251)

Fair

35.1% (154)

Poor

7.7% (34)

Licking County's Poor-condition bridges carry 51,395 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,512 crossings a day against 6,806 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 439 of 439 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

29.2% of Licking County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

128 of the 439 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 57.2% 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 19.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 37 over SR37 OVER RAMP CREEK, built 1950, carries 9,982 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 34-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 51,395 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

6
1920s

4
1930s

3
1940s

11
1950s

40
1960s

43
1970s

32
1980s

48
1990s

94
2000s

71
2010s

79
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 94 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1988, 11 years newer than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Licking County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1979 is 9 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Licking County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Darke County	463	82.9%	16.6%	0.4%	1985
Licking County (this page)	439	57.2%	35.1%	7.7%	1988
Lucas County	418	74.4%	23.7%	1.9%	1984
Stark County	415	51.8%	42.7%	5.5%	1973
Wayne County	391	59.3%	33.8%	6.9%	1976
Trumbull County	383	59.3%	30.5%	10.2%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (439 bridges here).

Mercer County, PA · 438 bridges
Butte County, CA · 437 bridges
Craighead County, AR · 442 bridges
Erie County, PA · 442 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1988 here).

Travis County, TX · avg 1988 · 1,544 bridges
Grant County, OK · avg 1988 · 476 bridges
Loudoun County, VA · avg 1988 · 442 bridges
Vernon County, MO · avg 1988 · 401 bridges

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

All 439 Good 251 Fair 154 Poor 34

Good-condition bridges (251)

Sort:

Licking County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Licking County's Poor-condition bridges carry 51,395 vehicle crossings a day

29.2% of Licking County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 19.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Licking 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 (251)

Thornwood Crossing

WB SR 16

EB SR 16

US ROUTE 62

US 62

US 62

WB-I-70

WB I-70

WB I-70

EB I-70

INTERSTATE 70

INTERSTARE 70

Somerset Rd

Dry Creek Rd

Claypool Rd

Poplar Forks Rd

Smith Chapel Rd

Mack Rd

Licking Trail Rd

Loudon St

Riley Rd

Porter Rd

Fairmount Rd

Edwards Rd

Welsh Hills Rd

Panhandle Rd

Duncan Plains Rd

Myrtle Rd

COUNTRY CLUB ROAD

HEADLEYS MILL RD

Bennington Chapel

Lafayette Rd

SR 16

REDDINGTON ROAD

SR 16 & SR 79

SR 16

EB SR 16

SR 79

Licking Valley Rd

Castle Rd

York Rd

Camp Ohio Rd

Smoketown Rd

Watkins Rd

Cherry Hill Rd

Lake Drive Rd

Newark-Granville

Staddens Bridge Rd

N BUENA VISTA ST

OHIO STREET

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