County profile · official public datasets

Perry County, PA

183 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.2% rated Good, 53.6% Fair, 14.2% Poor.

183
Public bridges: 32.2%
Good condition: 14.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Perry County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

45th
of 67 on Poor share: 14.2%
Poor-condition share: 183
public highway bridges: 1965
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.

Perry County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Perry County ranks #45 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 14.2%). Perry County, Pennsylvania contains 183 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.2% are rated “Good,” 53.6% “Fair,” and 14.2% “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

183

Public highway bridges in Perry County

Good condition

32.2%

59 of 183 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.6%

98 of 183 rated 5-6

Poor condition

14.2%

26 of 183 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#45 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 183 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.2% (59)

Fair

53.6% (98)

Poor

14.2% (26)

Perry County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,787 vehicle crossings a day

That is 8.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 14.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,530 crossings a day against 1,750 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 183 of 183 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

63.4% of Perry County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

116 of the 183 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 32.2% 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 46.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 11&15; STATE.RD over FISHING CREEK, built 1936, carries 18,406 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 26-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 39,787 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

6
1900s

4
1910s

5
1920s

8
1930s

23
1940s

11
1950s

25
1960s

33
1970s

5
1980s

10
1990s

13
2000s

13
2010s

24
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 33 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1965, 5 years older than the Pennsylvania average of 1970.

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Perry County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 14.2% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1965 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Perry County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Jefferson County	202	29.2%	63.9%	6.9%	1972
Mifflin County	196	41.8%	45.4%	12.8%	1974
Venango County	189	35.4%	49.7%	14.8%	1968
Perry County (this page)	183	32.2%	53.6%	14.2%	1965
Clarion County	172	27.9%	64%	8.1%	1974
Juniata County	169	30.2%	56.2%	13.6%	1969

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (183 bridges here).

St. Clair County, AL · 183 bridges
Richmond County, GA · 183 bridges
Marshall County, IN · 183 bridges
Appanoose County, IA · 183 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1965 here).

Windsor County, VT · avg 1965 · 483 bridges
Harper County, KS · avg 1965 · 372 bridges
Caledonia County, VT · avg 1965 · 247 bridges
Macoupin County, IL · avg 1965 · 242 bridges

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

All 183 Good 59 Fair 98 Poor 26

Fair-condition bridges (98)

Sort:

Perry County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Perry County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,787 vehicle crossings a day

63.4% of Perry County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 46.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Perry 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 (98)

T-310; RDWY TURNBK

MONTEBELLO ROAD

KINGS HIGHWAY

SWIMMING POOL ROAD

BACK HOLLOW RD

PA 850; SR 0850

US 22/322; SR 0022

PA 17; SR 0017

PA 34; SR 0034

PA 74; SR 0074

PA 850; SR 0850

PA 849;CREEK RD.

PA 850; SR 0850

LITTLE BUFFALO RD.

SR 3006

BOOTS H0LLOW RD

RAMP C-2 ON SR 22

PA 74; SR 0074

PA 274; SR 0274

PA 274; SR 0274

PA 74; SR 0074

PA 74; SR 0074

MAIN ENTRANCE ROAD

KINGS HIGHWAY

US 11&15; SR 0011

US 22-322;SR 0022

RED BRIDGE RD.

SR 3006

DOBBS RD

MCCABE ROAD

MCCABE ROAD

PA 850; SR 0850

SR 1010

CHERRY RD.

FISHER ST.

HOMINY RIDGE ROAD

PA 233; SR 0233

SR 4010

US 11&15; SR 0011

FRITZ RD

PA 850; SR 0850

ERNEST RD

PA 849; SR 0849

OWL HOLLOW RD.

PA 850; SR 0850

TWP.RTE.T-544

covered Bridge Rd

3008;Couchtown Rd

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