County profile · official public datasets

Carbon County, PA

134 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.9% rated Good, 60.4% Fair, 18.7% Poor.

134
Public bridges
20.9%
Good condition
18.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Carbon 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.

59th
of 67 on Poor share
18.7%
Poor-condition share
134
public highway bridges
1960
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.

Carbon County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Carbon County ranks #59 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 18.7%). Carbon County, Pennsylvania contains 134 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.9% are rated “Good,” 60.4% “Fair,” and 18.7% “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

134

Public highway bridges in Carbon County

Good condition

20.9%

28 of 134 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.4%

81 of 134 rated 5-6

Poor condition

18.7%

25 of 134 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 134 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
20.9% (28)
Fair
60.4% (81)
Poor
18.7% (25)

Carbon County's Poor-condition bridges carry 76,950 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 18% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,206 crossings a day against 10,336 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 133 of 134 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

75.4% of Carbon County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

101 of the 134 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 20.9% 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 29% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

PA TPK (I-476) over MUD RUN, built 1957, carries 22,283 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 76,950 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Carbon County's bridges were built

134 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 29 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1960, 10 years older than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Carbon County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 18.7% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1960 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 10 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Carbon County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Fulton County 159 11.9%
Pike County 158 25.9%
Wyoming County 140 22.9%
Carbon County (this page) 134 18.7%
Elk County 127 11%
Sullivan County 119 9.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (134 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1960 here).

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

All 134 Good 28 Fair 81 Poor 25

Poor-condition bridges (25)

SR 2002(APPL.1461)

Poor

Over: LITTLE AQUASHICOLA CREEK

PALMERTON/AQUASHICOLA, Carbon, PA

Built 1922 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 10,968

GRIST MILL RD

Poor

Over: QUAKAKE CREEK

GRIST MILL RD N OF SR4010, Carbon, PA

Built 1913 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 100

STONEY CK RD

Poor

Over: STONEY CREEK

W.OF SR 903 NR.CHRISTMANS, Carbon, PA

Built 1910 Load: 0.0 t

LAUCHNOR RD

Poor

Over: LIZARD CREEK

S.OF SR 895 NR.SCH.CO.LIN, Carbon, PA

Built 1984 Load: 8.2 t ADT: 300

STONE MOUNTAIN RD

Poor

Over: LIZARD CREEK

S.OF SR 895 NR.SCH.CO.LIN, Carbon, PA

Built 1984 Load: 15.4 t ADT: 300

ROCKPORT ROAD

Poor

Over: BUCK MOUNTAIN CREEK

1500 FT EAST OF ROCKPORT, Carbon, PA

Built 1912 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 50

POOL ROAD

Poor

Over: HICKORY RUN

HICKORY RUN STATE PARK, Carbon, PA

Built 1970 Load: 20.9 t ADT: 10

PA 93

Poor

Over: QUAKAKE CREEK

HUDSONDALE, Carbon, PA

Built 1927 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 3,899

PA 443(LR 13002)

Poor

Over: MAHONING CREEK

BLAKESLEE BLVD., Carbon, PA

Built 1945 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 13,842

PA 534(LR 13018)

Poor

Over: BLACK CREEK

.5 MI.S.OF LEHIGH TANNERY, Carbon, PA

Built 1940 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 470

BLUE MOUNTAIN RD

Poor

Over: LIZARD CREEK

S. OF SR 895 NR ASHFIELD, Carbon, PA

Built 1992 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 300

COUNTY LN RD

Poor

Over: MAHONING CREEK

DAVIS BRIDGE, Carbon, PA

Built 1910 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 150

T-333 GERMANS RD

Poor

Over: LIZARD CREEK

S.OF SR 895 W.OF ASHFIELD, Carbon, PA

Built 1991 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 200

EAST PENN STREET

Poor

Over: MAHONING CREEK

JUST NORTH OF RTE. 443, Carbon, PA

Built 1971 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 500

SR 903(LR 550)

Poor

Over: MUD RUN

PA903-PA534 INTERSECTION, Carbon, PA

Built 1932 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 5,877

SR 2002 (LR 13013)

Poor

Over: BORGER CREEK

LITTLE GAP RD @ 57 RD., Carbon, PA

Built 1930 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 2,183

I80 EB (LR1009)

Poor

Over: RAMPS G & H SR 8004

EXIT 277(42)TPKE-PA940, Carbon, PA

Built 1965 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 8,087

SR 2002 (LR 13013)

Poor

Over: HUNTERS CREEK

LITTLE GAP, Carbon, PA

Built 1930 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 1,749

SR 3012(LR 13033)

Poor

Over: MAUCH CHUNK CREEK

LENTZ TRAIL ROAD, Carbon, PA

Built 1930 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 1,034

PA 534 (LR 13018)

Poor

Over: MUD RUN

0.5 MI.N.OF MECKESVILLE, Carbon, PA

Built 1961 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 2,317

SR 2004 (LR 13014)

Poor

Over: MILL CREEK

AQUASHICOLA FIRELINE RD., Carbon, PA

Built 1960 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 1,698

T-520(MECKES LANE)

Poor

Over: BLACK CREEK

N.OF I80 I MI.W.OF TPKE., Carbon, PA

Built 1890 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 50

PA TPK (I-476)

Poor

Over: MUD RUN

4 MI W OF ALBRIGHTSVILLE, Carbon, PA

Built 1957 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 22,283

SR 3005(LR 13032)

Poor

Over: MAHONING CREEK

COUNTRY CLUB ROAD, Carbon, PA

Built 1929 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 370

SR 1005 & SR 2046

Poor

Over: LEHIGH RIVER

LEHIGH TANNERY, Carbon, PA

Built 1930 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 213

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.