County profile · official public datasets

Northampton County, PA

356 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.2% rated Good, 59.6% Fair, 9.3% Poor.

356
Public bridges: 31.2%
Good condition: 9.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 33%
lowest Poor share in state: 9.3%
Poor-condition share: 356
public highway bridges: 1970
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.

Northampton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Northampton County ranks #22 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 9.3%). Northampton County, Pennsylvania contains 356 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.2% are rated “Good,” 59.6% “Fair,” and 9.3% “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

356

Public highway bridges in Northampton County

Good condition

31.2%

111 of 356 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.6%

212 of 356 rated 5-6

Poor condition

9.3%

33 of 356 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#22 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 356 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.2% (111)

Fair

59.6% (212)

Poor

9.3% (33)

Northampton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 120,545 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,767 crossings a day against 8,056 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 355 of 356 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.1% of Northampton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

196 of the 356 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 31.2% 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 25.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

PA 33 NB(LR1098) over BUSHKILL CREEK, built 2004, carries 31,243 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 33-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 120,545 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

9
1900s

9
1910s

17
1920s

16
1930s

20
1940s

11
1950s

47
1960s

40
1970s

34
1980s

50
1990s

15
2000s

26
2010s

44
2020s

18

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 14% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Northampton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 9.3% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Northampton 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 (this page)	356	31.2%	59.6%	9.3%	1970
Cumberland County	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 Northampton 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 Northampton County, both outside Pennsylvania so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (356 bridges here).

Burlington County, NJ · 356 bridges
Richland County, OH · 356 bridges
Ross County, OH · 356 bridges
Mendocino County, CA · 357 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1970 here).

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges

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

All 356 Good 111 Fair 212 Poor 33

Fair-condition bridges (212)

Sort:

Northampton County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Northampton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 120,545 vehicle crossings a day

55.1% of Northampton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 25.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Northampton 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 (212)

NORTHAMPTON ST.

PA 33 (LR 796)

SR 3004 (LR 48003)

VALLEY ROAD

BLOSSOM HILL ROAD

STONE POST ROAD

US 22 (LR 773)

PA 412 (LR 530)

SR 2001 (LR 48009)

SR2012(LR48010&13)

SR 4003 (LR 48061)

SR 4014 (LR 48043)

OLD FILETOWN ROAD

US 22 (LR 772)

US 22 (LR 772)

PA 248 (LR 175)

PA 329 (LR 175)

DR.GEO.S.SMITH BRG

PA 611(LR 517)

SR 2003 (LR 48007)

SR 2016(LR 48121)

SR 2017 (LR 48019)

SR 2019 (LR 48021)

SR 2023 (LR 165)

SR 4004 (LR 48082)

SR 4020(LR 48059)

SR 4022 (LR 175)

SR 4025 (LR 48043)

SR 4025 (LR 48043)

TOMAHAWK TRAIL

TANGLEWOOD ROAD

SPRUCE DRIVE

RICHARD GARR ROAD

WALKER ROAD

ENGLER ROAD

LAKE MINSI ROAD

SHADY LANE

SHADY LANE

BROAD STREET

BUSHKILL STREET

CANAL ROAD

NATIONAL PARK DRIV

HARRIS STREET

US 22 (LR 772)

US 22 (LR 772)

PA 33 SB(LR 1098)

PA 512 (LR 48046)

PA 946 (LR 752)

SR 4005 (LR 48052)

WILLOW BROOK ROAD

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