County profile · official public datasets

Elk County, PA

127 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 39.4% rated Good, 49.6% Fair, 11% Poor.

127
Public bridges: 39.4%
Good condition: 11%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Elk County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 43%
lowest Poor share in state: 11%
Poor-condition share: 127
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Elk County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Elk County ranks #29 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 11%). Elk County, Pennsylvania contains 127 public highway bridges. Roughly 39.4% are rated “Good,” 49.6% “Fair,” and 11% “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

127

Public highway bridges in Elk County

Good condition

39.4%

50 of 127 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.6%

63 of 127 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11%

14 of 127 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#29 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 127 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

39.4% (50)

Fair

49.6% (63)

Poor

11% (14)

Elk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,218 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 11% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 373 crossings a day against 1,432 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 127 of 127 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

48% of Elk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

61 of the 127 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 39.4% 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 47.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 153-PA 153 over TOBY CREEK, built 1961, carries 2,467 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5,218 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1900s

3
1910s

3
1920s

3
1930s

14
1940s

9
1950s

10
1960s

12
1970s

9
1980s

10
1990s

17
2000s

12
2010s

18
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 18 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Elk County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 11% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1968 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Elk County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Pike County	158	35.4%	38.6%	25.9%	1971
Wyoming County	140	42.1%	35%	22.9%	1973
Carbon County	134	20.9%	60.4%	18.7%	1960
Elk County (this page)	127	39.4%	49.6%	11%	1973
Sullivan County	119	43.7%	47.1%	9.2%	1967
Montour County	108	50%	44.4%	5.6%	1968

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (127 bridges here).

Yuba County, CA · 127 bridges
Jefferson County, ID · 127 bridges
Harrison County, IN · 127 bridges
Vermillion County, IN · 127 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Sacramento County, CA · avg 1973 · 740 bridges

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

All 127 Good 50 Fair 63 Poor 14

Good-condition bridges (50)

Sort:

Elk County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Elk County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5,218 vehicle crossings a day

48% of Elk County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 47.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Elk 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

Good-condition bridges (50)

FR 191

FR 135

T-361 TWIN LAKES

T-426 GRANT RD

T-336 (CROSS ROAD)

Straight Creek Rd

SR 219 US 219

Bucktail Trail Hwy

SR 4003

GRANT STREET

SR 219 US 219

SR 255-PA 255

SR 4007

SR 949-PA 949

T-308 SHANLEY HILL

SR 555-PA 555

STRAIGHT CREEK RD

SR 1006

SR 3002

SR 3002

Straight Creek Rd

RED RUN ROAD

SR 219 US 219

SR 219-US 219

SR 555-PA 555

SR 219

NAVAL HOLLOW ROAD

T-301 (RIVER ROAD)

SR 555-PA 555

SR 255-PA 255

SHAFFER DRAFT ROAD

CENTER ST (SR 219)

BLACKWELL ROAD

Straight Creek Rd

WEST HICKS RUN RD

NO DATA ENTERED

T-631 OLD KANE RD

EAST HICKS RUN RD

T-423 STATION RD

PORCUPINE ROAD

SR 120-PA 120

SR 2005

DENTS RUN ROAD

SR 4003

FR 131

SR 1001

T-314 (ARROYO RD)

SR 1009

SR 1009

SR 3002

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