County profile · official public datasets

Muskingum County, OH

363 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 58.1% rated Good, 32% Fair, 9.9% Poor.

363
Public bridges: 58.1%
Good condition: 9.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Muskingum 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.

83rd
of 88 on Poor share: 9.9%
Poor-condition share: 363
public highway bridges: 1969
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.

Muskingum County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Muskingum County ranks #83 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.9%). Muskingum County, Ohio contains 363 public highway bridges. Roughly 58.1% are rated “Good,” 32% “Fair,” and 9.9% “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

363

Public highway bridges in Muskingum County

Good condition

58.1%

211 of 363 rated 7-9

Fair condition

32%

116 of 363 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.9%

36 of 363 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#83 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 363 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

58.1% (211)

Fair

32% (116)

Poor

9.9% (36)

Muskingum County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,447 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 568 crossings a day against 3,996 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 363 of 363 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

54.5% of Muskingum County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

198 of the 363 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 58.1% 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 29% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ADAMS LANE over JOES RUN, built 1989, carries 5,933 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 36-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 20,447 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1900s

40
1910s

2
1920s

6
1930s

18
1940s

14
1950s

42
1960s

69
1970s

15
1980s

20
1990s

41
2000s

44
2010s

39
2020s

11

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 69 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1969, 8 years older than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Muskingum County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.9% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1969 against a peer-group mean of 1981 is 12 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Muskingum County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Allen County	367	67.6%	22.6%	9.8%	1982
Lorain County	366	53.8%	40.7%	5.5%	1973
Muskingum County (this page)	363	58.1%	32%	9.9%	1969
Hancock County	357	72.3%	26.3%	1.4%	1988
Preble County	357	61.6%	27.5%	10.9%	1976
Richland County	356	65.2%	28.7%	6.2%	1984

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (363 bridges here).

Lackawanna County, PA · 363 bridges
Grays Harbor County, WA · 363 bridges
Gibson County, IN · 362 bridges
Fayette County, IA · 362 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1969 here).

Cook County, IL · avg 1969 · 1,721 bridges
Fresno County, CA · avg 1969 · 916 bridges
Ventura County, CA · avg 1969 · 501 bridges
Somerset County, PA · avg 1969 · 454 bridges

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

All 363 Good 211 Fair 116 Poor 36

All bridges (363)

Sort:

Muskingum County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Muskingum County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,447 vehicle crossings a day

54.5% of Muskingum County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 29% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Muskingum 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 (363)

OLD RIVER RD

Lower Kroft Road

SR 146

CLAY PIKE

CUTLER LAKE RD

PERL ROAD

SR 60

SR 83

SR 146

RURALDALE ROAD

Bush Hill Road

WHITES ROAD

OLD NEWARK ROAD

USR 22

EASTBOUND SR 16

DENT ROAD

PLETCHER HILL

US 40(MAIN STREET)

DAVIS LANE

US 40

CR 30

I 70

SR 666

Coopermill Road

SHANNON VALLEY RD

MOORE ROAD

VALLEY ROAD

PIPER ROAD

Highland Grange Rd

STATE ROUTE 340

NORWICH VALLEY RD

ARCH HILL RD

E WHEELING ROAD

US 22 & US 40

SR 60G (STATE ST)

SR 555

00666

RURALDALE RD

ROSE HILL RD

CROCK ROAD

BARR ROAD

CUTLER LAKE ROAD

US 22 & US 40

SR 93

SR 146

MILITARY ROAD

CANNELVILLE RD

EB SR 16

RICHEY ROAD

MAST ROAD

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