County profile · official public datasets

Monroe County, PA

315 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 26.3% rated Good, 52.7% Fair, 21% Poor.

315
Public bridges: 26.3%
Good condition: 21%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

62nd
of 67 on Poor share: 21%
Poor-condition share: 315
public highway bridges: 1966
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.

Monroe County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Monroe County ranks #62 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21%). Monroe County, Pennsylvania contains 315 public highway bridges. Roughly 26.3% are rated “Good,” 52.7% “Fair,” and 21% “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

315

Public highway bridges in Monroe County

Good condition

26.3%

83 of 315 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.7%

166 of 315 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21%

66 of 315 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#62 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 315 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

26.3% (83)

Fair

52.7% (166)

Poor

21% (66)

Monroe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 225,529 vehicle crossings a day

That is 9.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 20.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,470 crossings a day against 4,476 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 314 of 315 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

73% of Monroe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

230 of the 315 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 26.3% 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 9.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 209 (LR 461 W) over MARSHALLS CREEK, built 1930, carries 20,446 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 66-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 225,529 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

2
1910s

15
1920s

12
1930s

22
1940s

25
1950s

67
1960s

80
1970s

14
1980s

5
1990s

10
2000s

12
2010s

44
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 80 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 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1966) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Monroe County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1968 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Monroe County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Monroe County (this page)	315	26.3%	52.7%	21%	1966
Greene County	306	37.3%	46.7%	16%	1967
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	294	29.6%	62.2%	8.2%	1964

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (315 bridges here).

Wyandotte County, KS · 315 bridges
Saginaw County, MI · 315 bridges
Miami County, OH · 315 bridges
Buchanan County, IA · 316 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1966 here).

Butler County, KS · avg 1966 · 591 bridges
Grafton County, NH · avg 1966 · 544 bridges
Queens County, NY · avg 1966 · 514 bridges
Osage County, OK · avg 1966 · 366 bridges

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

All 315 Good 83 Fair 166 Poor 66

Good-condition bridges (83)

Sort:

Monroe County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Monroe County's Poor-condition bridges carry 225,529 vehicle crossings a day

73% of Monroe County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 9.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Monroe 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 (83)

US 209 & PA 33

I-80 WB(LR 1009)

I - 80 EB (LR1009)

PA 423 (LR 45037)

SR 3001(LR 45002)

SR 4004 (LR 45024)

US 209(LR 45011)

LOWER MIDDLE CK RD

CRESCENT LAKE ROAD

SR 0903 SH

PA423 (LR 45037)

PA 611 (LR 168)

PA 940 (LR 169)

Sugar Hollow Rd

PA 447(LR 324)

MIDDLE ROAD

Hypsy Gap Road

Merwinsburg Rd

PA 191 (LR 169)

SR 1017(LR 45070)

Rimrock Drive

Silver Valley Road

SR 1004(LR 45027)

HULBERT HILL ROAD

SR 2022 (LR 45060)

SR 2024

SR 2023(LR 461 E)

T-221

PA 611 (LR 168)

SR 2003 (LR 45007)

SR 4003(LR45039)

PA 611 (LR 498)

SR 2030(LR 776)

PA 33 (LR796)

SR 8024(LR794RMP)

SR 2030 (LR 776)

RED ROCK RD(T-565)

LowerSwiftwater Rd

SR 0715 SH

HELL HOLLOW ROAD

PA 447 (LR 458)

SR 4008(LR 45089)

SR 0940 SH

PA 390

SR 1009(LR 45014)

Locust Ridge Rd

PA 191 (LR 169)

BEAVER VALLEY RD

PA 314 (LR 171)

MCINTOSH ROAD

Related