County profile · official public datasets

Cumberland County, PA

348 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.1% rated Good, 56% Fair, 4.9% Poor.

348
Public bridges: 39.1%
Good condition: 4.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cumberland County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 7%
lowest Poor share in state: 4.9%
Poor-condition share: 348
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Cumberland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cumberland County ranks #5 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.9%). Cumberland County, Pennsylvania contains 348 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.1% are rated “Good,” 56% “Fair,” and 4.9% “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

348

Public highway bridges in Cumberland County

Good condition

39.1%

136 of 348 rated 7-9

Fair condition

56%

195 of 348 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.9%

17 of 348 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#5 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 348 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

39.1% (136)

Fair

56% (195)

Poor

4.9% (17)

Cumberland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 102,850 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 6,050 crossings a day against 9,918 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 348 of 348 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

58.9% of Cumberland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

205 of the 348 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 39.1% 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 27.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-81 NB; SR 0081 over PA TURNPIKE, built 1963, carries 27,884 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 17-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 102,850 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

6
1900s

3
1910s

4
1920s

6
1930s

22
1940s

12
1950s

32
1960s

92
1970s

32
1980s

18
1990s

28
2000s

31
2010s

53
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 92 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1975, 5 years newer than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Cumberland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cumberland County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Schuylkill County	368	20.4%	53%	26.6%	1961
Centre County	367	48%	46%	6%	1982
Lackawanna County	363	36.6%	45.7%	17.6%	1972
Northampton County	356	31.2%	59.6%	9.3%	1970
Cumberland County (this page)	348	39.1%	56%	4.9%	1975
Blair County	338	39.1%	50.9%	10.1%	1976

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (348 bridges here).

Fillmore County, MN · 348 bridges
Cumberland County, NC · 348 bridges
Mahoning County, OH · 348 bridges
Pennington County, SD · 348 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Monroe County, NY · avg 1975 · 615 bridges

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

All 348 Good 136 Fair 195 Poor 17

Fair-condition bridges (195)

Sort:

Cumberland County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cumberland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 102,850 vehicle crossings a day

58.9% of Cumberland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 27.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cumberland 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

Fair-condition bridges (195)

PA TPK (I-76)

LR21017 SR2011

WEST ORANGE STREET

Ramp B

US 11 SB; SR 0011

1039 BELLE VISTA

I-81 SB; SR 0081

ALEX.SPRG RD T469

HOT POINT AVE T303

Shady Lane

I-81 SB; SR 0081

I-81 SB; SR 0081

I-81 SB; SR 0081

I-81 SB; SR 0081

WEST BURD STREET

I-81 NB; SR 0081

I-81 NB; SR 0081

DICKINSON SCH.T470

PA 233; SR 0233

PA 696; SHIPP. RD.

SR 4006 BRANDY RUN

CREEKVIEW RD T-399

STROHMS HOLLOW RD

Ramp C

SALEM CHURCH ROAD

US 15; SR 0015

PA 34; BALT. AVE.

I-81 SB; SR 0081

I-81 SB; SR 0081

SR 0581

PA 696; NEWBURG RD

SR 4008 CENTER RD.

PA TPK (I-76)

PA TPK (I-76)

PA TPK (I-76)

MESSIAH COLLEGE RD

RACE STREET T-546

SPRING HOUSE ROAD

EAST PINE STREET

ASHBURN DRIVE

ASHBURN DRIVE

BARRY DRIVE

I-81; SR 0081

I-81 NB; SR 0081

PA 581 SR0581

2004 S. Market St

2021 Rossmoyne Rd

T-568 (Eppley Rd)

I-81 NB; SR 0081

I-81 SB; SR 0081

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