County profile · official public datasets

Berks County, PA

667 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.4% rated Good, 63.6% Fair, 15% Poor.

667
Public bridges: 21.4%
Good condition: 15%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Berks County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

49th
of 67 on Poor share: 15%
Poor-condition share: 667
public highway bridges: 1962
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.

Berks County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Berks County ranks #49 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 15%). Berks County, Pennsylvania contains 667 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.4% are rated “Good,” 63.6% “Fair,” and 15% “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

667

Public highway bridges in Berks County

Good condition

21.4%

143 of 667 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.6%

424 of 667 rated 5-6

Poor condition

15%

100 of 667 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#49 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 667 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

21.4% (143)

Fair

63.6% (424)

Poor

15% (100)

Berks County's Poor-condition bridges carry 312,870 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 15% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,129 crossings a day against 6,540 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 666 of 667 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

68.1% of Berks County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

454 of the 667 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 21.4% 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 26.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 422 (LR793) over THUN RECREATIONAL TRAIL, built 1963, carries 82,168 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 100-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 312,870 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

10
1900s

17
1910s

22
1920s

65
1930s

59
1940s

26
1950s

84
1960s

120
1970s

86
1980s

40
1990s

35
2000s

35
2010s

59
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 120 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1962, 8 years older than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

How Berks County compares with Pennsylvania's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Berks County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 15% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1962 against a peer-group mean of 1965 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 66 Pennsylvania counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Berks County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bucks County	699	24.3%	60.2%	15.5%	1958
Chester County	680	25%	61.3%	13.7%	1963
Berks County (this page)	667	21.4%	63.6%	15%	1962
Washington County	655	38.3%	49.6%	12.1%	1971
Westmoreland County	620	36.5%	47.7%	15.8%	1975
Philadelphia County	585	22.7%	64.1%	13.2%	1956

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (667 bridges here).

Kern County, CA · 668 bridges
St. Louis County, MN · 663 bridges
Hinds County, MS · 663 bridges
Jefferson County, KY · 662 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1962 here).

Pecos County, TX · avg 1962 · 470 bridges
Bristol County, MA · avg 1962 · 384 bridges
Norfolk County, MA · avg 1962 · 343 bridges
Ottawa County, KS · avg 1962 · 295 bridges

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

All 667 Good 143 Fair 424 Poor 100

All bridges (667)

Sort:

Berks County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Berks County's Poor-condition bridges carry 312,870 vehicle crossings a day

68.1% of Berks County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 26.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Berks County compares with Pennsylvania'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 (667)

PA 12 (LR 06150)

US 222B(LR 157)5TH

SR 2038(LR 06102)

SR 0222 (LR 1035)

SR 0222(LR1035)

WEST SHORE DRIVE

FRONT STREET

PINE STREET

CONSTITUTION DRIVE

MOUNTAIN RD

MILL HILL ROAD

I-78(LR 141)

SR 501(LR 423)

SR 645(LR 06004)

SHEEP HILL ROAD

MAIN STREET

SR 78(LR 285 SP)

US 222 SB(LR 157)

PA 562 (LR 284)

SR 1023 (LR 06055)

PA TPK (Ramp)

MECKVILLE RD

CLEAVER SCHOOL RD

SR 73 LAKE SHORE D

SR 12(LR 784)

SR 2020 (LR 916)

LR06089 SR 0010

DRIES ROAD

SR 4002(LR 06003)

CREAMERY ROAD

SR 4024(LR 06178)

STATION ROAD

SR 78 (LR 141)

US422BUS (LR 149)

Grims Mill Road

SR 73(LR 197)

US 222 NB(LR157)

SR 2036(LR 06154)

PRENDERGAST RD

CREAMERY ROAD

KRIEBEL ROAD

SR 568(LR 06084)

SR 4015 (LR 06193)

T-616 HARTLINE RD

SR 78(LR 141)

US422BUS (LR 149)

T-375 HEIDELBERG

SR 183(LR 310)

PA 183 (LR 310)

BUTTONWOOD STREET

Related