County profile · official public datasets

Washington County, PA

655 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.3% rated Good, 49.6% Fair, 12.1% Poor.

655
Public bridges: 38.3%
Good condition: 12.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

36th
of 67 on Poor share: 12.1%
Poor-condition share: 655
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #36 of 67 Pennsylvania counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.1%). Washington County, Pennsylvania contains 655 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.3% are rated “Good,” 49.6% “Fair,” and 12.1% “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

655

Public highway bridges in Washington County

Good condition

38.3%

251 of 655 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.6%

325 of 655 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.1%

79 of 655 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#36 of 67

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

Condition distribution

Share of 655 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.3% (251)

Fair

49.6% (325)

Poor

12.1% (79)

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 98,832 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,251 crossings a day against 5,496 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 655 of 655 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

54.4% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

356 of the 655 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 38.3% 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 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SR 0022 over RACCOON CREEK, built 1970, carries 19,995 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 79-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 98,832 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

19
1900s

19
1910s

25
1920s

25
1930s

42
1940s

51
1950s

38
1960s

119
1970s

26
1980s

36
1990s

59
2000s

73
2010s

109
2020s

14

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 119 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the Pennsylvania average (1970).

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

The 5 Pennsylvania counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.1% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1963 is 8 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Washington County and the 5 Pennsylvania counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bucks County	699	24.3%	60.2%	15.5%	1958
Chester County	680	25%	61.3%	13.7%	1963
Berks County	667	21.4%	63.6%	15%	1962
Washington County (this page)	655	38.3%	49.6%	12.1%	1971
Westmoreland County	620	36.5%	47.7%	15.8%	1975
Philadelphia County	585	22.7%	64.1%	13.2%	1956

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside PA (655 bridges here).

Alameda County, CA · 658 bridges
Sumner County, KS · 659 bridges
Salt Lake County, UT · 659 bridges
Bell County, TX · 660 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside PA (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges
Monmouth County, NJ · avg 1971 · 505 bridges

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

All 655 Good 251 Fair 325 Poor 79

Fair-condition bridges (325)

Sort:

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 98,832 vehicle crossings a day

54.4% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Washington 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 (325)

PA TPK (TOLL 43)

ALLISON AVE.

Number 3 Hill Rd

SR 0019

SR 0079

SR 0221

SR 0519

SR 1007

SR 1039

SR 2011

SR 2019

SR 2020

SR 3021

COWDEN ROAD TR820

PA TPK TOLL 43 NB

SR 2020

CATHOLIC CHURCH BR

SR 0018

SR 0844

SR 3018

T-328 FULLER DR

SR 0070

SR 0070

SR 0070

SR 0088

SR 0136

SR 0136

SR 2030

SR 3025

SR 4015

PA TPK (TOLL 43)

SR 2023

SR 4009

SR 0070

SR 0070

SR 2009

SR 2033

WALL ST

PA TPK TOLL 43 SB

PA TPK (TOLL43)

PA TPK TOLL43 SB

SHADY AVENUE

TOWNSHIP ROAD 400

East Simmons Road

BEESON AVENUE

BEESON AVENUE

WYT SPROWLS BRIDGE

BURSON ROAD T-384

SR 0018

SR 0070

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