County profile · official public datasets

Wayne County, OH

391 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 59.3% rated Good, 33.8% Fair, 6.9% Poor.

391
Public bridges: 59.3%
Good condition: 6.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

64th
of 88 on Poor share: 6.9%
Poor-condition share: 391
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.

Wayne County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wayne County ranks #64 of 88 Ohio counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.9%). Wayne County, Ohio contains 391 public highway bridges. Roughly 59.3% are rated “Good,” 33.8% “Fair,” and 6.9% “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

391

Public highway bridges in Wayne County

Good condition

59.3%

232 of 391 rated 7-9

Fair condition

33.8%

132 of 391 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.9%

27 of 391 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#64 of 88

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

Condition distribution

Share of 391 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

59.3% (232)

Fair

33.8% (132)

Poor

6.9% (27)

Wayne County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,281 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 751 crossings a day against 2,898 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 391 of 391 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.5% of Wayne County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

178 of the 391 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 59.3% 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 34.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

USR 250 over BR OF APPLE CREEK, built 1956, carries 6,936 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 27-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 20,281 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

13
1910s

2
1920s

8
1930s

19
1940s

12
1950s

44
1960s

53
1970s

39
1980s

39
1990s

71
2000s

71
2010s

13
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 71 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Ohio average (1977).

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

The 5 Ohio counties nearest Wayne County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.9% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Wayne County and the 5 Ohio counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Stark County	415	51.8%	42.7%	5.5%	1973
Wayne County (this page)	391	59.3%	33.8%	6.9%	1976
Trumbull County	383	59.3%	30.5%	10.2%	1977
Butler County	377	62.3%	32.9%	4.8%	1985
Scioto County	376	65.7%	29.3%	5.1%	1984
Allen County	367	67.6%	22.6%	9.8%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside OH (391 bridges here).

Arapahoe County, CO · 391 bridges
Lee County, FL · 391 bridges
Kingman County, KS · 391 bridges
DeKalb County, GA · 392 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 391 Good 232 Fair 132 Poor 27

Good-condition bridges (232)

Sort:

Wayne County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Wayne County's Poor-condition bridges carry 20,281 vehicle crossings a day

45.5% of Wayne County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Wayne 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

Good-condition bridges (232)

TH-40 Kline Rd

CR-36 Stratton Rd

TH-178 Britton Rd

NEW US 30

NEW US 30

SR 226

COUNTY ROAD 5A

COUNTY ROAD 16

PALMER STREET

SR 3

SR3toSR585Ramp

SR 57

COUNTY ROAD 29

TWP. ROAD 63

COUNTY ROAD 161

TWP. ROAD 129

TWP RD 186 FRY RD

SR 585

CR 30A

USR 250

TWP. ROAD 119

COUNTY ROAD 23

OSU-OARDC-Selby Rd

SR 302

SR 83

SR 3

USR 30/USR 250/SR

USR 30 & USR 250

SR 3

SR 21

SR 21

USR 30

USR 30 & USR 250

TR168(HILLCREST RD

TR 54 HONEYTOWN RD

CR44 Apple Creek

CR 416 MCQUAID RD

TR-179(KANSASRDEXT

NEW USR 30

NEW USR 30

NEW USR 30

NEW USR 30

CR 94A CARR RD

NEW USR 30

SR 172

SR 57

SR 241

SR 301

SR 302

SR 539

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