County profile · official public datasets

Forest County, PA

71 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 35.2% rated Good, 52.1% Fair, 12.7% Poor.

71
Public bridges: 35.2%
Good condition: 12.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Forest County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.

37th
of 67 on Poor share: 12.7%
Poor-condition share: 71
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Forest County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Forest County ranks #37 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.7%). Forest County, Pennsylvania contains 71 public highway bridges. Roughly 35.2% are rated “Good,” 52.1% “Fair,” and 12.7% “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

Public highway bridges in Forest County

Good condition

35.2%

25 of 71 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.1%

37 of 71 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.7%

9 of 71 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#37 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 71 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

35.2% (25)

Fair

52.1% (37)

Poor

12.7% (9)

Forest County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,153 vehicle crossings a day

That is 14.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 461 crossings a day against 407 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 71 of 71 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

49.3% of Forest County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

35 of the 71 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 35.2% 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 38.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 36 COL.DRAKE HY over OVER HUNTER RUN, built 1959, carries 1,584 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 4,153 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

6
1920s

4
1930s

6
1940s

3
1950s

7
1960s

8
1970s

1
1980s

3
1990s

6
2000s

7
2010s

18
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 18 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Forest County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.7% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1969 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Forest County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Carbon County	134	20.9%	60.4%	18.7%	1960
Elk County	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
Forest County (this page)	71	35.2%	52.1%	12.7%	1974
Cameron County	62	43.5%	48.4%	8.1%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (71 bridges here).

Rio Grande County, CO · 71 bridges
Charlton County, GA · 71 bridges
Madison County, GA · 71 bridges
Taylor County, GA · 71 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 71 Good 25 Fair 37 Poor 9

All bridges (71)

Sort:

Forest County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Forest County's Poor-condition bridges carry 4,153 vehicle crossings a day

49.3% of Forest County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 38.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Forest 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 (71)

FR 130

FR 108

INDIAN CABIN ROAD

SR 3004 NEBRASKA

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 666 D.ZEIS HWY

FR 145

SR 36 ELM STREET

SR 4002 DAWSON RD.

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

T-338

SR 62 TIONESTA BR.

SR 2005 LOLETA RD

T-372

NO DATA ENTERED

FR 215

FR 215

SR 36 COL DRAKE HW

SR 1005 WATSON FRM

SR 36 COL DRAKE

T-396

SR3004 GUITONVILLE

SR 4004 GERMAN HIL

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

T-345

SR 127

SR 3001 RED BRUSH

T-328 QUEEN RD

SR 3004 LT.HICKORY

SR 36 COL DRAKE

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 1003 BLUE JAY R

T-356

SR 2001 GREENWOOD

SR 62

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 4002 DAWSON RD.

FR 145

SR 899

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 62 HUNTER STA.

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 4001 NEILTOWN R

SR 1003 BLUE JAY R

SR 0062

SR 666 D ZEIS HWY

SR 2002 FOREST RD

SR 2007 MUZETTE RD

T-316 COUNTY LINE

SR 1003 Blue Jay R

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