County profile · official public datasets

Putnam County, OH

213 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 54.9% rated Good, 40.4% Fair, 4.7% Poor.

213
Public bridges: 54.9%
Good condition: 4.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 50%
lowest Poor share in state: 4.7%
Poor-condition share: 213
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Putnam County ranks #44 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.7%). Putnam County, Ohio contains 213 public highway bridges. Roughly 54.9% are rated “Good,” 40.4% “Fair,” and 4.7% “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

213

Public highway bridges in Putnam County

Good condition

54.9%

117 of 213 rated 7-9

Fair condition

40.4%

86 of 213 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.7%

10 of 213 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#44 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 213 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

54.9% (117)

Fair

40.4% (86)

Poor

4.7% (10)

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,583 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 258 crossings a day against 1,615 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 213 of 213 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

83 of the 213 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 54.9% 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 18.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

COUNTY ROAD R over PLUM CREEK, built 1900, carries 477 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,583 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

4
1910s

1
1930s

2
1940s

2
1950s

10
1960s

36
1970s

52
1980s

28
1990s

29
2000s

26
2010s

18
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 52 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1982, 5 years newer than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Putnam County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 9 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Putnam County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Portage County	217	51.2%	39.6%	9.2%	1976
Putnam County (this page)	213	54.9%	40.4%	4.7%	1982
Lake County	210	52.9%	38.6%	8.6%	1973
Clinton County	209	73.7%	24.4%	1.9%	1979
Holmes County	208	43.3%	53.8%	2.9%	1978
Noble County	208	45.2%	47.6%	7.2%	1959

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (213 bridges here).

Bonneville County, ID · 213 bridges
Floyd County, IA · 213 bridges
Calhoun County, MI · 213 bridges
Alcorn County, MS · 213 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 213 Good 117 Fair 86 Poor 10

All bridges (213)

Sort:

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,583 vehicle crossings a day

39% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 18.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Putnam 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 (213)

COUNTY ROAD 1

TOWNSHIP ROAD 28

TOWNSHIP ROAD I-17

TOWNSHIP ROAD K-6

COUNTY ROAD P

USR 224

COUNTY ROAD R-17

TOWNSHIP ROAD 25-P

PUT CO RD R23

COUNTY ROAD 5

COUNTY ROAD 22

COUNTY ROAD 13

TOWNSHIP ROAD O-25

COUNTY ROAD 18

TOWNSHIP ROAD 24M

SR 15

TOWNSHIP ROAD 13-V

TOWNSHIP ROAD 10-L

SR 65

TOWNSHIP ROAD 11-R

PUT COUNTY ROAD 3

TOWNSHIP ROAD A

COUNTY ROAD OLD 65

TOWNSHIP ROAD G

TOWNSHIP ROAD S

TOWNSHIP ROAD 16C

TOWNSHIP ROAD O-6

TOWNSHIP ROAD 3

TOWNSHIP ROAD 1

COUNTY ROAD 6

TOWNSHIP ROAD 13-P

COUNTY ROAD E

COUNTY ROAD Y

TOWNSHIP ROAD 23

COUNTY ROAD OLD 12

COUNTY ROAD 18S

TOWNSHIP ROAD 19-A

TOWNSHIP ROAD U-13

COUNTY ROAD Y

COUNTY ROAD 24

COUNTY ROAD J

Township Road U20

COUNTY ROAD Z

TOWNSHIP ROAD M

COUNTY ROAD J

SR 12

COUNTY ROAD P

SR 12

SR 12

COUNTY ROAD M

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