County profile · official public datasets

Preble County, OH

357 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 61.6% rated Good, 27.5% Fair, 10.9% Poor.

357
Public bridges: 61.6%
Good condition: 10.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

87th
of 88 on Poor share: 10.9%
Poor-condition share: 357
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Preble County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Preble County ranks #87 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.9%). Preble County, Ohio contains 357 public highway bridges. Roughly 61.6% are rated “Good,” 27.5% “Fair,” and 10.9% “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

357

Public highway bridges in Preble County

Good condition

61.6%

220 of 357 rated 7-9

Fair condition

27.5%

98 of 357 rated 5-6

Poor condition

10.9%

39 of 357 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#87 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 357 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

61.6% (220)

Fair

27.5% (98)

Poor

10.9% (39)

Preble County's Poor-condition bridges carry 26,622 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 683 crossings a day against 2,004 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 357 of 357 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.9% of Preble County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

153 of the 357 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 61.6% 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 17.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WASH JACKSON RD over SEVEN MILE CREEK, built 1900, carries 4,665 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 39-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 26,622 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

4
1900s

35
1910s

3
1920s

12
1930s

11
1940s

6
1950s

21
1960s

54
1970s

11
1980s

22
1990s

35
2000s

60
2010s

58
2020s

25

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 60 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Ohio average (1977).

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Preble County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.9% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Preble County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Muskingum County	363	58.1%	32%	9.9%	1969
Hancock County	357	72.3%	26.3%	1.4%	1988
Preble County (this page)	357	61.6%	27.5%	10.9%	1976
Richland County	356	65.2%	28.7%	6.2%	1984
Ross County	356	41.6%	50.6%	7.9%	1964
Guernsey County	350	41.7%	49.1%	9.1%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (357 bridges here).

Mendocino County, CA · 357 bridges
Fayette County, IL · 357 bridges
Augusta County, VA · 357 bridges
Tazewell County, IL · 358 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 357 Good 220 Fair 98 Poor 39

Poor-condition bridges (39)

Sort:

Preble County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Preble County's Poor-condition bridges carry 26,622 vehicle crossings a day

42.9% of Preble County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Preble 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

Poor-condition bridges (39)

PLEASANT VALLEY RD

FUDGE RD

MORNING SUN RD

ST CLAIR STREET

GRA.JACKSONBURG

SR122

BRUBAKER RD;

UPPER SOMERS RD

SWAMP CREEK RD

JUNCTION RD

BROWER RD.

LEXINGTON RD

WOLFREY RD

DIXON RD

FALLS RD

B ROAD

OXFORD GERMANTOWN

SILVERHART RD.

TWIN CREEK RD

CONCORD FAIRHAVEN

WESLER RD

WOLVERTON RD

US 40

SR726

ENTERPRISE RD

QUAKER TRACE RD

WASH JACKSON RD

PENCE SHEWMAN

VERONA RD

4 MI. ST. LINE RD

QUINN RD

GEORGETOWN VERONA

DILLMAN RD

N.PARIS ELDORADO

4 MI. ST. LINE RD.

CAMDEN COLL CORNER

TRONE RD.

WOLVERTON RD

QUAKER TRACE RD

Related