County profile · official public datasets

Susquehanna County, PA

284 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.3% rated Good, 44.7% Fair, 19% Poor.

Compiled by PlainBridges

284
Public bridges: 36.3%
Good condition: 19%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

61st
of 67 on Poor share: 19%
Poor-condition share: 284
public highway bridges: 1969
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.

Susquehanna County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Susquehanna County ranks #61 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 19%). Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania contains 284 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.3% are rated “Good,” 44.7% “Fair,” and 19% “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

284

Public highway bridges in Susquehanna County

Good condition

36.3%

103 of 284 rated 7-9

Fair condition

44.7%

127 of 284 rated 5-6

Poor condition

19%

54 of 284 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#61 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 284 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.3% (103)

Fair

44.7% (127)

Poor

19% (54)

Susquehanna County's Poor-condition bridges carry 49,877 vehicle crossings a day

That is 10.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 19% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 924 crossings a day against 898 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 284 of 284 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

60.9% of Susquehanna County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

173 of the 284 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 36.3% 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 21.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 0081 I-81 NB over SR 0106 TR 106, built 1961, carries 10,559 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 54-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 49,877 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

4
1900s

8
1910s

7
1920s

13
1930s

13
1940s

24
1950s

31
1960s

65
1970s

14
1980s

19
1990s

15
2000s

30
2010s

33
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 65 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1969) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Susquehanna County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 19% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1969 against a peer-group mean of 1969 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Susquehanna County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Beaver County	299	41.1%	48.8%	10%	1972
Franklin County	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
Susquehanna County (this page)	284	36.3%	44.7%	19%	1969
Columbia County	271	42.8%	47.2%	10%	1965

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (284 bridges here).

Logan County, OK · 284 bridges
Tillman County, OK · 284 bridges
Washington County, TN · 284 bridges
Gonzales County, TX · 284 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1969 here).

Cook County, IL · avg 1969 · 1,721 bridges
Fresno County, CA · avg 1969 · 916 bridges
Cuyahoga County, OH · avg 1969 · 871 bridges
Ventura County, CA · avg 1969 · 501 bridges

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

All 284 Good 103 Fair 127 Poor 54

All bridges (284)

Sort:

Susquehanna County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Susquehanna County's Poor-condition bridges carry 49,877 vehicle crossings a day

60.9% of Susquehanna County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Susquehanna 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 (284)

SR 0858 TR 858

SR 0171 TR 171

SR 2046

SR 0706 TR 706

SR 11

SR 2021

SR 3009

SR 1016

T356(JENNINGS RD.)

T745 ENGLISH FLATS

SR 858

Bear Swamp Rd

SR 1015

SR 1005

SR 0858 TR 858

SR 2045

T-627 (CORBY ROAD)

CARR HILL RD T-466

SR 0706 SH

SR 1012

SR 0547 TR 547

SR 4013

SR 0011 TR 11

SR 1009

SR1012 EAST LAKE R

SR 3027

SR 0171 TR 171

SR 2029

SR 0367 TR 367

SR 2039

SR 0167 TR 167

T-498 (UPHAM ROAD)

CHURCH STREET

T519 (Stone Br Rd.

T-592 (SVECZ ROAD)

JOHNSTON STREET

SR4016 STNLY LK RD

T548 (PODUNK ROAD)

T-821 (OLD RT 11)

T604 (CREAMERY RD)

SR 0367 TR 367

SR 4008

SR 0247 TR 247

T-573 (TANNERY ST)

SR 0706 TR 706

WATER STREET

SR 3023

PA 171

SR 3017

SR 2009

Related