Total bridges
680
Public highway bridges in Chester County
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.
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
- pre-1900 26
Built before 1900
26 bridges
- 1900s 15
1900–1909
15 bridges
- 1910s 39
1910–1919
39 bridges
- 1920s 48
1920–1929
48 bridges
- 1930s 50
1930–1939
50 bridges
- 1940s 21
1940–1949
21 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
59 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
144 bridges
- 1970s 31
1970–1979
31 bridges
- 1980s 47
1980–1989
47 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
73 bridges
- 2000s 54
2000–2009
54 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
58 bridges
- 2020s 15
2020–2029
15 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.
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.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucks County | 699 | 24.3% | 60.2% | 15.5% | 1958 |
| Chester County (this page) | 680 | 25% | 61.3% | 13.7% | 1963 |
| Berks County | 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 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).
- Honolulu County, HI · 682 bridges
- Caddo County, LA · 682 bridges
- El Paso County, CO · 686 bridges
- Broward County, FL · 686 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1963 here).
- Worcester County, MA · avg 1963 · 1,014 bridges
- Essex County, NJ · avg 1963 · 505 bridges
- Passaic County, NJ · avg 1963 · 333 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (680)
Bollinger Road
FairOver: Perkins Run
NW of Creek Rd 403359J2, Chester, PA
Built 1914 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 300
Waterloo Blvd.
FairOver: Br.of Valley Creek
W of Kimberwyck Ln 3472J5, Chester, PA
Built 1990 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 3,200
DORLAN MILL ROAD
FairOver: EAST BR BRANDYWINE CREEK
AT 282 INTERSECT. 20E7, Chester, PA
Built 1931 Load: 34.3 t ADT: 3,237
US 1 BY-PASS (NB)
FairOver: NEWARK ROAD
NEAR AVONDALE 46G4, Chester, PA
Built 1965 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 14,828
US 1 BY-PASS (SB)
FairOver: NEWARK ROAD
NEAR AVONDALE 46G4, Chester, PA
Built 1965 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 12,295
US 202
FairOver: VALLEY FORGE ROAD
TREDYFFRIN 24F3, Chester, PA
Built 1967 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 110,029
PAOLI PIKE
FairOver: BRANCH VALLEY CREEK
TREDYFFRIN TWP. 24A05, Chester, PA
Built 1948 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 21,990
WEST CHRISTIANA RD
FairOver: OCTORARO CREEK
KIRKS BRIDGE 50C05, Chester, PA
Built 1984 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 6,517
SWEDESFORD ROAD
FairOver: CONRAIL(ABANDONED)
CHESTER VALLEY 23B07, Chester, PA
Built 1969 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 9,048
BUCKWALTER ROAD
FairOver: STONY CREEK
NEAR KIMBERTON GOLF 7G12, Chester, PA
Built 1931 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 868
MARSHALL BRIDGE RD
FairOver: RED CLAY CREEK
NR.TRAFFIC RTE.82 47H10, Chester, PA
Built 1936 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 1,382
BALTIMORE PIKE
FairOver: BR.W.BR BIG ELK CR.
2.MI.TO ELKDALE 44B11, Chester, PA
Built 1924 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 4,935
OLD BALTIMORE PIKE
FairOver: MIDDLE BR WHITE CLAY CR
ON TOWNSHIP LINE 45G08, Chester, PA
Built 1934 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 6,747
WEST CYPRESS ST
FairOver: WEST BR. RED CLAY CREEK
1MI.S.KENNETT SQ. 47D05, Chester, PA
Built 1940 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 5,734
MANSION ROAD
FairOver: SOUTH BR. FRENCH CREEK
NR. READING FURNACE 11H1, Chester, PA
Built 1904 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 261
PIKELAND ROAD T488
FairOver: PICKERING CREEK
WEST PIKELAND TWP. 14A11, Chester, PA
Built 1908 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 474
PA TPK (I-76)
FairOver: T-443 (Howell Road)
NEAR CEDAR HOLLOW, Chester, PA
Built 1950 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 47,120
COLLAMER ROAD
FairOver: MUDDY RUN
1500 S.HOMEVILLE 3797-C3, Chester, PA
Built 1983 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 300
SWEDESFORD ROAD
FairOver: US 202 BYPASS
.7MI.S.of PA 401 3474E02, Chester, PA
Built 2008 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 4,873
WEST STATE STREET
FairOver: WEST BR. RED CLAY CREEK
NEAR KENNETT SQUARE 47D5, Chester, PA
Built 1929 Load: 34.7 t ADT: 5,713
30 BYPASS
FairOver: US ROUTE 322
NEAR DOWNINGTOWN 30D1, Chester, PA
Built 1961 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 64,245
US 202(SB) RAMP W
FairOver: RTE 30 RAMPS S & X
202/30 INTERCHANGE 22D10, Chester, PA
Built 1994 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 25,031
SCHUYLKILL ROAD
FairOver: STONY RUN CREEK
NEAR SPRING CITY 7J12, Chester, PA
Built 1942 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 15,159
KIRKLAND AVE(T387)
FairOver: ROUTE 100
2M.N.WEST CHESTER 32B2, Chester, PA
Built 1968 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 946
GLENCREST EAST RD.
FairOver: W BR BRANDYWINE CREEK
VALLEY TOWNSHIP 28J04, Chester, PA
Built 1923 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 3,775
AUBURN ROAD
FairOver: EAST BR WHITE CLAY CREEK
NEW GARDEN TWP. 54G01, Chester, PA
Built 1984 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 1,396
PA TPK (I-76)
FairOver: SR 0100
WEST DOWNINGTOWN INTERCHG, Chester, PA
Built 1950 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 46,178
PA TPK (I-76)
FairOver: PA TPK RP CD
DOWNINGTOWN INTERCHANGE, Chester, PA
Built 1950 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 47,120
PA TPK (I-76)
FairOver: T-616
EAST OF VALLEY FORGE PARK, Chester, PA
Built 1950 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 46,820
DOWLIN FORGE ROAD
FairOver: SHAMONA CREEK
NEAR DOWLIN 3471-G4, Chester, PA
Built 1915 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 2,866
PINE SWAMP ROAD
FairOver: PINE CREEK
WARWICK TOWNSHIP 4F6, Chester, PA
Built 2010 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 833
ROUTE 30 BY-PASS
FairOver: CONRAIL (ABANDONED)
N OF COATESVILLE 28J2, Chester, PA
Built 1961 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 29,503
CREEK ROAD
FairOver: PLUM CREEK
LEANAPE 40H06, Chester, PA
Built 1960 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 1,112
US 202(NB) RAMP R
FairOver: RTE 30 RAMPS S & X
202/30 INTERCH 22D10, Chester, PA
Built 1995 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 51,237
EAST CHRISTINE RD.
FairOver: NORTHEAST CREEK
NR.OXFORD AIRPORT 51D10, Chester, PA
Built 1967 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 6,063
PAOLI PIKE
FairOver: BRANCH RIDLEY CREEK
1MI.E.CHESTER RD. 33A02, Chester, PA
Built 1946 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 7,882
STEELVILLE ROAD
FairOver: OCTORARO CREEK
NEAR STEELVILLE 35D06, Chester, PA
Built 1941 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 475
SWAN ROAD
FairOver: OFFICERS RUN
NEAR ATGLEN 26H9, Chester, PA
Built 1937 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 2,428
PA TPK (I-76)
FairOver: T-593
WEST OF VALLEY FORGE PARK, Chester, PA
Built 1950 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 47,120
BROAD STREET
FairOver: EAST PENN RAILROAD
0.2 M S SR472 ADC 3907-D5, Chester, PA
Built 1914 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 1,100
US-1 BYPASS (SB)
FairOver: MILL ROAD (T-432)
NW KENNETT SQUARE 47C4, Chester, PA
Built 1965 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 14,302
MANOR ROAD
FairOver: W.BR.OF BRANDYWINE CREEK
N. ROUTE 30 BYPASS 28K2, Chester, PA
Built 1961 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 5,424
POTTSTOWN PIKE
FairOver: FRENCH CREEK
PUGHTOWN 6B12, Chester, PA
Built 1953 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 11,100
US 202
FairOver: WEST VALLEY ROAD
GATEWAY SHOPPING 24H03, Chester, PA
Built 1967 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 110,029
PAOLI PIKE
FairOver: CHESTER CREEK
NR.WEST CHESTER 32H06, Chester, PA
Built 1946 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 11,616
WALNUT STREET
FairOver: EAST BRANCH RED CLAY CR.
1MI.CLIFTON MILL 47G06, Chester, PA
Built 1923 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 2,709
EAST CYPRESS STR.
FairOver: EAST BR.RED CLAY CREEK
4 MI. TO YORKLYN 47F5, Chester, PA
Built 1940 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 8,686
STRASBURG ROAD
FairOver: W.BR.BRANDYWINE CREEK
MORTONVILLE 29F12/3580F09, Chester, PA
Built 1826 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 3,800
LTL.WASHINGTON RD.
FairOver: CULBERTSON RUN
NEAR SR 282 19K4, Chester, PA
Built 1941 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 1,074
EAST REECEVILLE RD
FairOver: BEAVER CREEK
NR GUTHRIESVILLE 19F10, Chester, PA
Built 2009 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 1,556
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
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.