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.

pre-1900

26
1900s

15
1910s

39
1920s

48
1930s

50
1940s

21
1950s

59
1960s

144
1970s

31
1980s

47
1990s

73
2000s

54
2010s

58
2020s

15

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chester 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 (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 680 Good 170 Fair 417 Poor 93

All bridges (680)

Sort:

CHESTER SPRINGS RD

Fair

Over: PINE CREEK

NEAR ROUTE 401 13D11, Chester, PA

Built 2002 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 358

EAST CHRISTINE RD.

Fair

Over: EAST PENN RAILROAD

NR.NOTTINGHAM PK. 50K08, Chester, PA

Built 1985 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 6,184

SPROUL ROAD

Fair

Over: NSRC (EARNEST-GLEN)

FRAZER S. US 30 22H10, Chester, PA

Built 1998 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 8,997

ON-RAMP TO SR 3100

Fair

Over: TAYLOR RUN

US 322 INTERCH. 31K8, Chester, PA

Built 1955 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 983

RAMP P

Fair

Over: RAMPS L N Q

.1 MI NE DEVON PK 25A2, Chester, PA

Built 2001 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 1,690

KINGS HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: US 30 BY PASS

N.OF COATESVILLE 29F1, Chester, PA

Built 1961 Load: 58.1 t ADT: 2,931

LENAPE ROAD

Fair

Over: BRANDYWINE CREEK

LENAPE 40G6, Chester, PA

Built 1902 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 7,254

POTTSTOWN PIKE

Fair

Over: VALLEY CREEK

EXTON CROSSROADS 21H11, Chester, PA

Built 1954 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 36,125

LINCOLN HIGHWAY

Fair

Over: AMTRAK

WEST COATESVILLE 28G5, Chester, PA

Built 1997 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 8,539

PENNSYLVANIA AVE

Fair

Over: BRANDYWINE CREEK

500 N US-322 3471-G9, Chester, PA

Built 1986 Load: 62.6 t ADT: 10,500

UPPER VALLEY ROAD

Fair

Over: OFFICERS RUN

ATGLEN 26H10, Chester, PA

Built 1937 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 538

SCHOOL ROAD

Fair

Over: WHITE CLAY CREEK

1.1 MI N SR896 ADC3909-C5, Chester, PA

Built 1940 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 200

BALTIMORE PIKE

Fair

Over: EAST BR. BIG ELK CREEK

5MI.EAST OXFORD 44H08, Chester, PA

Built 1987 Load: 71.7 t ADT: 6,617

MOREHALL ROAD

Fair

Over: VALLEY CREEK

NEAR VALLEY STORE 23B6, Chester, PA

Built 1964 Load: 77.1 t ADT: 21,147

PA TPK (I-76)

Fair

Over: TRIB. TO FRENCH CREEK

NEAR LOAG, Chester, PA

Built 1950 Load: 89.7 t ADT: 39,934

PA TPK (I-76)

Fair

Over: MARSH CREEK

NORTHEAST OF GLENMOORE, Chester, PA

Built 1950 Load: 89.7 t ADT: 39,934

TOWNSHIP LINE ROAD

Fair

Over: BRANCH OF VALLEY CREEK

100 W of PA 100 3472-J4, Chester, PA

Chester County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

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

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

One structure carries 17.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chester 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 (680)

CHESTER SPRINGS RD

EAST CHRISTINE RD.

SPROUL ROAD

ON-RAMP TO SR 3100

RAMP P

KINGS HIGHWAY

LENAPE ROAD

POTTSTOWN PIKE

LINCOLN HIGHWAY

PENNSYLVANIA AVE

UPPER VALLEY ROAD

SCHOOL ROAD

BALTIMORE PIKE

MOREHALL ROAD

PA TPK (I-76)

PA TPK (I-76)

TOWNSHIP LINE ROAD

AVONDALE NEW LONDN

MARLBORO ROAD

HILLENDALE ROAD

SAGINAW ROAD

PA TPK (I-76)

MADISON DRIVE

MADISON DRIVE

PAOLI PIKE

PARK ROAD(T307)

US-1 BYPASS (SB)

PICKERING ROAD

VALLEY STATION RD.

WHITE HORSE ROAD

Ramp C

OSBORNE ROAD

BRANDYWINE CK. RD.

OLD EAGLE SCHOL RD

CHESTNUT TREE ROAD

MOREHALL ROAD

NEWPORT PIKE

Ramp AB & Ramp D

Ramp AB

WALKER ROAD (T431)

RESERVOIR ROAD

GULPH ROAD

CEDAR HOLLOW ROAD

PROSPECT AVENUE

UNION STREET

OAKBOURNE ROAD

BRANDYWINE AVENUE

HOWELLVILLE ROAD

VALLEY HILL ROAD

Church Road

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