County profile · official public datasets

Van Wert County, OH

317 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 89% rated Good, 11% Fair, 0% Poor.

317
Public bridges: 89%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Van Wert County pairs a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 2%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 317
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.

Van Wert County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Van Wert County ranks #2 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Van Wert County, Ohio contains 317 public highway bridges. Roughly 89% are rated “Good,” 11% “Fair,” and 0% “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

317

Public highway bridges in Van Wert County

Good condition

89%

282 of 317 rated 7-9

Fair condition

11%

35 of 317 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 317 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#2 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 317 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

89% (282)

Fair

11% (35)

Poor

0% (0)

40.1% of Van Wert County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

127 of the 317 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 89% 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.

1900s

2
1920s

2
1930s

8
1940s

10
1950s

12
1960s

69
1970s

63
1980s

34
1990s

42
2000s

40
2010s

23
2020s

12

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 69 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1982, 5 years newer than the Ohio average of 1977.

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Van Wert County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Van Wert County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Auglaize County	321	81.9%	17.8%	0.3%	1980
Columbiana County	321	58.9%	38.6%	2.5%	1961
Fairfield County	320	56.6%	38.4%	5%	1973
Clermont County	319	61.4%	30.1%	8.5%	1972
Van Wert County (this page)	317	89%	11%	0%	1982
Miami County	315	72.1%	21%	7%	1983

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (317 bridges here).

Gwinnett County, GA · 317 bridges
Cherokee County, KS · 317 bridges
St. Landry County, LA · 317 bridges
Washington County, MS · 317 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 317 Good 282 Fair 35 Poor 0

All bridges (317)

Sort:

Van Wert County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

40.1% of Van Wert County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Van Wert 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 (317)

SMITH KITZENBARGER

GILLILAND ROAD

SPENCERVILLE-DELPH

CLAYTON ROAD

JONES ROAD

CONVOY ROAD

LIBERTY-UNION ROAD

CR 13 (Marsh Rd)

USR 30 WB

USR 30 EB

USR 30 WB

USR 30 EB

CONVOY HELLER ROAD

ALEXANDER ROAD

USR 30-USR 224 EB

CONVOY ROAD

PANCAKE ROAD

USR 30-USR 224 EB

SR 66

SR 81

US127 S WASHINGTON

USR 127

USR 127

USR 127

USR 224-SR 49

CR5 HOAGLIN CENTER

JONESTOWN WESTERN

LINCOLN HIGHWAY

CONVERSE-ROSELM RO

HARRISON-WILLSHIRE

USR 30-USR 224 WB

SR 116

GREENVILLE ROAD

HUGHES ROAD

SR 49

USR 30 WB

USR 30 EB

DUTCH JOHN ROAD

SPENCERVILLE-DELPH

WREN LANDECK ROAD

CENTER STREET

CHENOWITH ROAD

GILBERT ROAD

USR 30 WB

DUTCH JOHN ROAD

STERLING ROAD

STATE ROAD

GLENMORE ROAD

HOAGLIN CENTER RD.

VAN WERT-DECATUR

Related