County profile · official public datasets

Chester County, PA

680 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25% rated Good, 61.3% Fair, 13.7% Poor.

680
Public bridges
25%
Good condition
13.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Chester 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.

43rd
of 67 on Poor share
13.7%
Poor-condition share
680
public highway bridges
1963
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.

Chester County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chester County ranks #43 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 13.7%). Chester County, Pennsylvania contains 680 public highway bridges. Roughly 25% are rated “Good,” 61.3% “Fair,” and 13.7% “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

680

Public highway bridges in Chester County

Good condition

25%

170 of 680 rated 7-9

Fair condition

61.3%

417 of 680 rated 5-6

Poor condition

13.7%

93 of 680 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#43 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 680 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
25% (170)
Fair
61.3% (417)
Poor
13.7% (93)

Chester County's Poor-condition bridges carry 376,529 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 13.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,138 crossings a day against 7,828 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 678 of 680 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

62.6% of Chester County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

426 of the 680 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 25% 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 17.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ROUTE 30 BY-PASS over CREEK RD BRANDYWINE CK., built 1961, carries 64,245 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 93-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 376,529 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Chester County's bridges were built

680 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 144 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1963, 7 years older than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

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

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Chester County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 13.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1963 against a peer-group mean of 1964 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chester County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Bucks County 699 15.5%
Chester County (this page) 680 13.7%
Berks County 667 15%
Washington County 655 12.1%
Westmoreland County 620 15.8%
Philadelphia County 585 13.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (680 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1963 here).

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

All 680 Good 170 Fair 417 Poor 93

All bridges (680)

BOOT ROAD

Poor

Over: US ROUTE 202

2.5 MI N W CHESTER 32E2, Chester, PA

Built 1968 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 17,834

GLENROY ROAD(T306)

Poor

Over: BLACKBURN RUN

.4 Mi N of PA-272 3906-C7, Chester, PA

Built 1934 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 7

HARMONY HILL ROAD

Poor

Over: VALLEY CREEK

E BRADFORD TWP 3582-D3, Chester, PA

Built 1918 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 1,492

US-1(NB)

Poor

Over: GUERNSEY ROAD

NEAR JENNERSVILLE 45G7, Chester, PA

Built 1967 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 12,373

STRICKERSVILLE RD.

Poor

Over: BIG ELK CREEK

NR.STRICKERSVILLE 53E12, Chester, PA

Built 1938 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 665

COMPASS ROAD

Poor

Over: BUCK RUN

600 N OF RTE 30 3578-B3, Chester, PA

Built 1930 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 600

ROUTE 30 BY-PASS

Poor

Over: CREEK RD BRANDYWINE CK.

EAST CALN TWP. 20F13, Chester, PA

Built 1961 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 64,245

LANCASTER AVENUE

Poor

Over: EAST BR. BRANDYWINE CK.

DOWNINGTOWN 30G2, Chester, PA

Built 1921 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 16,688

CONESTOGA ROAD

Poor

Over: PINE CREEK

2MI.NORTH PA TPK. 21J3, Chester, PA

Built 1960 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 10,086

WEST BRIDGE STREET

Poor

Over: STONEY RUN CREEK

1 MI NE PA 23 7D10, Chester, PA

Built 1950 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 4,418

WAGONTOWN ROAD

Poor

Over: WEST BR OF BRANDYWINE CR

TO LR 1004 28H03/ 3579-H2, Chester, PA

Built 1918 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 964

MILL ROAD

Poor

Over: VALLEY CREEK

TREDYFFRIN TWP 3365-E9, Chester, PA

Built 1912 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 2,897

MANOR AVENUE

Poor

Over: BEAVER CREEK

DOWNINGTOWN 30F2, Chester, PA

Built 1934 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 12,588

HOMEVILLE ROAD

Poor

Over: MUDDY RUN

CREAM PENNA. 43B6, Chester, PA

Built 1952 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 163

ART SCHOOL ROAD

Poor

Over: BRANCH OF PICKERING CRK

W VINCET;E PIKELND 14B09, Chester, PA

Built 1928 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 194

G O Carlson Blvd.

Poor

Over: Valley Run

0.9 Mi W PA-340 3580-H1, Chester, PA

Built 2001 Load: 31.8 t ADT: 4,000

AIRPORT ROAD

Poor

Over: ROUTE 30 BY-PASS

WEST COATESVILLE 28B4, Chester, PA

Built 1961 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 5,411

KINGS ROW ROAD

Poor

Over: BIG ELK CREEK

NEW LONDON;ELK TWP.52F07, Chester, PA

Built 1875 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 188

VALLEY WAY (T-407)

Poor

Over: SOUTH BR OF FRENCH CREEK

1.5 Mi S. PA-23 3249-B7, Chester, PA

Built 1913 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 73

DENTON HOLLOW ROAD

Poor

Over: POCOPSON CREEK

POCOPSON TOWNSHIP 3692-H6, Chester, PA

Built 1914 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 135

US-1 BYPASS (NB)

Poor

Over: MILL ROAD (T-432)

NW KENNETT SQUARE 47C4, Chester, PA

Built 1965 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 14,828

STREET ROAD

Poor

Over: POCOPSON CREEK

.3MI.W.ROUTE 100 40G09, Chester, PA

Built 1937 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 11,166

DOWNINGTOWN PIKE

Poor

Over: VALLEY CREEK

W. OF WEST CHESTER 31B9, Chester, PA

Built 1929 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 12,126

CAMBRIDGE ROAD

Poor

Over: HONEY BRK.W.BR.BRANDYWIN

SW OF HONEY BROOK 9D13, Chester, PA

Built 1910 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 613

FAIRVIEW ROAD

Poor

Over: MARSH CREEK

NR. FAIRVIEW CHURCH 11K9, Chester, PA

Built 1939 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 1,831

DOWLIN FORGE ROAD

Poor

Over: SHAMONA CREEK

NEAR DOWLIN 3471-J2, Chester, PA

Built 1942 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 840

BIRCH STREET

Poor

Over: EAST BRANCH RED CLAY CR.

KENNETT SQUARE 47F06, Chester, PA

Built 1926 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 1,653

EDGES MILL ROAD

Poor

Over: BRANCH BEAVER CREEK

NEAR EDGE MILL 30C1, Chester, PA

Built 1974 Load: 39.0 t ADT: 1,841

NORTHBROOK ROAD

Poor

Over: W. BR. BRANDYWINE CREEK

N. OF RTE. 842 39J4, Chester, PA

Built 1953 Load: 42.6 t ADT: 2,064

WATER WORKS ROAD

Poor

Over: ROCK RUN

COATESVILLE RESER. 28E1, Chester, PA

Built 1973 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 964

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.