County profile · official public datasets

Washington County, OH

309 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 61.2% rated Good, 32.4% Fair, 6.5% Poor.

309
Public bridges: 61.2%
Good condition: 6.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

61st
of 88 on Poor share: 6.5%
Poor-condition share: 309
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #61 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.5%). Washington County, Ohio contains 309 public highway bridges. Roughly 61.2% are rated “Good,” 32.4% “Fair,” and 6.5% “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

309

Public highway bridges in Washington County

Good condition

61.2%

189 of 309 rated 7-9

Fair condition

32.4%

100 of 309 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.5%

20 of 309 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#61 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 309 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

61.2% (189)

Fair

32.4% (100)

Poor

6.5% (20)

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 26,457 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,392 crossings a day against 1,812 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 308 of 309 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

46.3% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

143 of the 309 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 61.2% 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 42.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MR-476 MEMORIAL TO over OHIO R. CSX KEEVER ST., built 1955, carries 11,215 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 26,457 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

3
1900s

7
1910s

5
1920s

11
1930s

12
1940s

7
1950s

29
1960s

61
1970s

21
1980s

58
1990s

31
2000s

32
2010s

21
2020s

11

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 61 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Ohio average (1977).

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Washington County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Miami County	315	72.1%	21%	7%	1983
Huron County	311	58.2%	33.8%	8%	1982
Belmont County	310	52.3%	42.6%	5.2%	1982
Athens County	309	54%	39.2%	6.8%	1975
Washington County (this page)	309	61.2%	32.4%	6.5%	1974
Ashtabula County	305	72.5%	23.9%	3.6%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (309 bridges here).

Mississippi County, AR · 309 bridges
Howard County, MD · 309 bridges
Franklin County, IL · 310 bridges
Okmulgee County, OK · 310 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside OH (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Pierce County, WA · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 309 Good 189 Fair 100 Poor 20

All bridges (309)

Sort:

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 26,457 vehicle crossings a day

46.3% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Washington 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 (309)

TOWNSHIP ROAD 444

TOWNSHIP ROAD 66

SR 7

SR 260

TOWNSHIP ROAD 19

TOWNSHIP ROAD 1069

TOWNSHIP ROAD 38

SR 339

TOWNSHIP ROAD 19

TOWNSHIP ROAD 23

TOWNSHIP ROAD 66

TOWNSHIP ROAD 324

COUNTY ROAD 56

TOWNSHIP ROAD 19

TOWNSHIP ROAD 24

TOWNSHIP ROAD 246

SR 83

SR 339

COUNTY ROAD 3

TOWNSHIP ROAD 70

SR 676

SR 60

IR 77

IR 77

SR 339

TOWNSHIP ROAD 24

TOWNSHIP ROAD 24

TOWNSHIP ROAD 404

TOWNSHIP ROAD 108

TOWNSHIP ROAD 1

TOWNSHIP ROAD 29

COUNTY ROAD 3

SR 676

SR 339

TWP RD 89 BE

IR 77

COUNTY ROAD 12

COUNTY ROAD 3

COUNTY ROAD 9

COUNTY ROAD 6

COUNTY ROAD 25

COUNTY ROAD 12

COUNTY ROAD 12

COUNTY ROAD 805

CR-344

TOWNSHIP ROAD 35

TOWNSHIP ROAD 19

TOWNSHIP ROAD 391

TOWNSHIP ROAD 48

TR 459

Related