Total bridges
163
Public highway bridges in Abbeville County
County profile · official public datasets
Abbeville County, SC
163 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.1% rated Good, 55.8% Fair, 3.1% Poor.
- 163
- Public bridges
- 41.1%
- Good condition
- 3.1%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Abbeville County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 26%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 3.1%
- Poor-condition share
- 163
- public highway bridges
- 1975
- 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.
Abbeville County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Abbeville County ranks #12 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.1%). Abbeville County, South Carolina contains 163 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.1% are rated “Good,” 55.8% “Fair,” and 3.1% “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.
Good condition
41.1%
67 of 163 rated 7-9
Fair condition
55.8%
91 of 163 rated 5-6
Poor condition
3.1%
5 of 163 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#12 of 46
Among South Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 163 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 41.1% (67)
Fair 55.8% (91)
Poor 3.1% (5)
Abbeville County's Poor-condition bridges carry 875 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 175 crossings a day against 1,260 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 163 of 163 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
54% of Abbeville County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
88 of the 163 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 41.1% 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 37.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
S-1-33 over LONG CANE CREEK, built 1961, carries 325 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 875 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Abbeville County's bridges were built
163 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s 10
1930–1939
10 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
15 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
14 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
33 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
21 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
22 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
14 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
16 bridges
- 2010s 8
2010–2019
8 bridges
- 2020s 8
2020–2029
8 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 33 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the South Carolina average (1977).
How Abbeville County compares with South Carolina's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Abbeville County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.1% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 45 South Carolina counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster County | 181 | 29.3% | 58% | 12.7% | 1967 |
| Darlington County | 174 | 32.8% | 62.1% | 5.2% | 1974 |
| Kershaw County | 174 | 39.7% | 55.2% | 5.2% | 1978 |
| Clarendon County | 170 | 25.3% | 72.9% | 1.8% | 1976 |
| Sumter County | 166 | 44% | 45.2% | 10.8% | 1981 |
| Abbeville County (this page) | 163 | 41.1% | 55.8% | 3.1% | 1975 |
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 Abbeville 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 Abbeville County, both outside South Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside SC (163 bridges here).
- Mercer County, IL · 163 bridges
- Jennings County, IN · 163 bridges
- Wayne County, IA · 163 bridges
- Jackson County, LA · 163 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1975 here).
- San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
- Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
- Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
- Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (163)
SC 72 WBL
GoodOver: LONG CANE CREEK
4.3 MI N W OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1991 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 5,150
S-1-184
GoodOver: GRAYS CREEK
3.8 MI SE DUE WEST, Abbeville, SC
Built 2019 Load: 50.9 t ADT: 125
SC 72
GoodOver: NORRIS CRK
1.0 MI N E OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1989 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 7,200
S-1-83
GoodOver: CSX RR
6.9 MI SW ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 2000 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 225
S-1-133
GoodOver: LONG CANE CREEK
4.1MI NE ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 2000 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 600
SC 71
GoodOver: SHANKLIN CREEK
9.5 MI N W OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1938 Load: 55.7 t ADT: 600
S-1-75
GoodOver: MCCORD CREEK
2.2 MI NE ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1987 Load: 95.9 t ADT: 475
SC 72
GoodOver: CURLTAIL CREEK
7.0 MI N E OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1992 Load: 97.2 t ADT: 10,300
C-1-406
PoorOver: LONG CANE CR
6.8 MI NE OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1960 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 125
S-1-37
PoorOver: HOGSKIN CREEK
3.0MI W DUE WEST, Abbeville, SC
Built 1959 Load: 11.3 t ADT: 250
S-1-33
PoorOver: LONG CANE CREEK
7.0MI SE OF ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1961 Load: 19.8 t ADT: 325
CURTAIL CREEK-Brid
PoorOver: CURTAIL CREEK
NO DATA ENTERED, Abbeville, SC
Built 1982 Load: 25.6 t ADT: 50
S-1-159
PoorOver: JOHNS CREEK
5.3 MI NE ABBEVILLE, Abbeville, SC
Built 1950 Load: 27.2 t ADT: 125
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.