County profile · official public datasets

Beaufort County, SC

72 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 36.1% rated Good, 59.7% Fair, 4.2% Poor.

72
Public bridges: 36.1%
Good condition: 4.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Beaufort County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 37%
lowest Poor share in state: 4.2%
Poor-condition share: 72
public highway bridges: 1988
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.

Beaufort County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Beaufort County ranks #17 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.2%). Beaufort County, South Carolina contains 72 public highway bridges. Roughly 36.1% are rated “Good,” 59.7% “Fair,” and 4.2% “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

Public highway bridges in Beaufort County

Good condition

36.1%

26 of 72 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.7%

43 of 72 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.2%

3 of 72 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#17 of 46

Among South Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 72 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

36.1% (26)

Fair

59.7% (43)

Poor

4.2% (3)

Beaufort County's Poor-condition bridges carry 43,100 vehicle crossings a day

That is 5.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 14,367 crossings a day against 10,603 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 72 of 72 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

27.8% of Beaufort County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

20 of the 72 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 36.1% 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 66.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 278 EB over MACKAY CREEK, built 1956, carries 28,700 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 43,100 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

3
1940s

2
1950s

4
1960s

8
1970s

5
1980s

3
1990s

22
2000s

16
2010s

8
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 22 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1988, 11 years newer than the South Carolina average of 1977.

How Beaufort County compares with South Carolina's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Beaufort County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.2% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1988 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is 21 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 45 South Carolina counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Beaufort County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bamberg County	80	20%	67.5%	12.5%	1971
Barnwell County	76	30.3%	65.8%	3.9%	1966
Beaufort County (this page)	72	36.1%	59.7%	4.2%	1988
Allendale County	69	23.2%	63.8%	13%	1968
McCormick County	68	42.6%	57.4%	0%	1972
Calhoun County	64	20.3%	73.4%	6.3%	1959

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 Beaufort 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 Beaufort County, both outside South Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (72 bridges here).

Lafayette County, AR · 72 bridges
Tattnall County, GA · 72 bridges
Wilkinson County, GA · 72 bridges
Kearny County, KS · 72 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1988 here).

Travis County, TX · avg 1988 · 1,544 bridges
Grant County, OK · avg 1988 · 476 bridges
Loudoun County, VA · avg 1988 · 442 bridges
Licking County, OH · avg 1988 · 439 bridges

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

All 72 Good 26 Fair 43 Poor 3

All bridges (72)

Sort:

Beaufort County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Beaufort County's Poor-condition bridges carry 43,100 vehicle crossings a day

27.8% of Beaufort County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 66.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Beaufort County compares with South Carolina'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 (72)

SC 170

S-31/BRIDGE ST

US 21 BUS

S-7-33/RIVER RD

S-7-33/RIVER RD

S-7-457/SALEM RD

S-265/ROSSEIDA RD

S-7-45

US 278 EB

C-7-896

S-7-13/BRIDGE ST

US 278 WB

SC 170

CUBA STREET

SC 802

US 21 NB

US 17 NB

US 21 NB

S-7-40

S-7-43/KINLOCH RD

US 278 WB

US 21

US 21

S-7-30

MALECON DR

SC 46/OKATIE HWY

US 21 SB

US 278

US 278 EB

US 17 NB

US 17 SB

US 278 WB

S-7-77/SEASIDE RD

US 278 EB

US 278 WB

US 17

US 278 EB

US 278 WB

US 21 NB

S-7-59

US 278 EB

US 278 WB

US 21/RIBAUT RD

L-1526

US 21

L-1526 WB

L-1526 EB

US 278 EB

RAMP ON US 21 SB

S-7-79

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