County profile · official public datasets

Franklin County, PA

294 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 29.6% rated Good, 62.2% Fair, 8.2% Poor.

294
Public bridges: 29.6%
Good condition: 8.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Franklin County pairs a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 24%
lowest Poor share in state: 8.2%
Poor-condition share: 294
public highway bridges: 1964
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.

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Franklin County ranks #16 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8.2%). Franklin County, Pennsylvania contains 294 public highway bridges. Roughly 29.6% are rated “Good,” 62.2% “Fair,” and 8.2% “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

294

Public highway bridges in Franklin County

Good condition

29.6%

87 of 294 rated 7-9

Fair condition

62.2%

183 of 294 rated 5-6

Poor condition

8.2%

24 of 294 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#16 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 294 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

29.6% (87)

Fair

62.2% (183)

Poor

8.2% (24)

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 54,415 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,267 crossings a day against 4,367 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 294 of 294 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

184 of the 294 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 29.6% 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 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 30; Lincoln Hwy over ROCKY MT CREEK, built 1948, carries 15,365 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 24-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 54,415 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

12
1900s

5
1910s

1
1920s

14
1930s

37
1940s

19
1950s

22
1960s

58
1970s

25
1980s

21
1990s

17
2000s

23
2010s

34
2020s

6

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 58 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 19.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1964, 6 years older than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Franklin County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8.2% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 7 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Franklin County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Indiana County	301	29.9%	51.2%	18.9%	1972
Beaver County	299	41.1%	48.8%	10%	1972
Northumberland County	299	41.8%	51.5%	6.7%	1963
Franklin County (this page)	294	29.6%	62.2%	8.2%	1964
Clearfield County	292	38.4%	47.6%	14%	1971
Cambria County	284	35.9%	56.7%	7.4%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (294 bridges here).

Bedford County, TN · 294 bridges
Cass County, IA · 295 bridges
Ottawa County, KS · 295 bridges
Boone County, IN · 293 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1964 here).

Bergen County, NJ · avg 1964 · 577 bridges
Morris County, NJ · avg 1964 · 508 bridges
Baltimore city County, MD · avg 1964 · 374 bridges
Ross County, OH · avg 1964 · 356 bridges

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

All 294 Good 87 Fair 183 Poor 24

All bridges (294)

Sort:

Franklin County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Franklin County's Poor-condition bridges carry 54,415 vehicle crossings a day

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

One structure carries 28.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Franklin 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 (294)

997;Cumberland Hwy

US 30; Lincoln hwy

T-467; GLFRD SPRNG

PA 316 WAYNE ROAD

SR 1010; WALKER RD

T-330 Heisey Road

PA-16;W. Main St.

PA997;Cumberland H

PA 433; Tanyard hl

PA 997; Main St.

SR 2002;Marsh Rd.

PA 416; SR 0416

SR 3026

SR 4010Siloam RD.

SR 533 Orrstown Rd

SR 3013

PA 16; Buchanan Tr

US 30 EB; SR 0030

PA997; SR 997

SR3011;Mountain Rd

US 11 SB; N.Main S

PA 316; Wayne Hwy.

NUNNERY ROAD

TWIN BRIDGE RD

PA 16;Buchanan Trl

SR 4010

SR 1006 Main st.

SR 3012;Jack Rd.

US-11;Philadelphia

PA-997;Cumb. Hwy

T-456 ETTER ROAD

Rocky Mountain Rd

PA75;Ft Loudon Rd

TWIN BRIDGE RD

PA 533;SR Orrstown

CUMBERLAND HWY

CLAYLICK RD

Washington Twp Blv

US 30; Lincoln hwy

PA 641; Newburg rd

RATTLESNAKE RUN RD

Washington Twp Bvd

PA 995; Welsh Run

DISTRICT ROAD

PA 416;Mercersburg

SR 1003

T-399 STAMEY HILL

SR 4006 Cold spr.

PA-997;Anthony Hwy

I-81 NB; SR 0081

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