Total bridges
72
Public highway bridges in Beaufort County
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.
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.
When Beaufort County's bridges were built
72 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s 3
1930–1939
3 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1950s 4
1950–1959
4 bridges
- 1960s 8
1960–1969
8 bridges
- 1970s 5
1970–1979
5 bridges
- 1980s 3
1980–1989
3 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
22 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
16 bridges
- 2010s 8
2010–2019
8 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
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.
| 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.
Good-condition bridges (26)
L-1526
GoodOver: TIDAL MARSH
4 MI SE OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2016 Load: 21.4 t ADT: 18,400
US 21
GoodOver: HARBOR RIVER
12.5 MI SE OF BEAURFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2021 Load: 21.7 t ADT: 3,400
L-1526 WB
GoodOver: S-242
4 SE OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2016 Load: 26.2 t ADT: 9,200
L-1526 EB
GoodOver: TIDAL MARSH
4 SE OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2016 Load: 28.8 t ADT: 9,200
US 278 EB
GoodOver: PALMETTO LAGOON
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, Beaufort, SC
Built 1978 Load: 30.1 t ADT: 13,100
RAMP ON US 21 SB
GoodOver: BATTERY CR
PARRIS ISLAND, Beaufort, SC
Built 1994 Load: 35.0 t ADT: 1,799
S-7-79
GoodOver: JARVIS CREEK
IN HILTON HEAD ISLAND, Beaufort, SC
Built 2017 Load: 35.6 t ADT: 6,300
S-7-72
GoodOver: BROOMFIELD CREEK
3.5 MI NE BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 1996 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 2,500
US 17 SB
GoodOver: BRANFORD CREEK
10 MI EAST OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2011 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 6,600
US 17 SB
GoodOver: MARSH
10 MI EAST OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2009 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 6,600
US 278 WB
GoodOver: PALMETTO LAGOON
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, Beaufort, SC
Built 2001 Load: 40.2 t ADT: 13,100
L-7-383
GoodOver: BRICKYARD CREEK
4.6 MI NW BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2016 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 200
SC 46/MAY RIVER RD
GoodOver: STONEY CREEK
5MI W OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2001 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 14,000
SC 46/MAY RIVER RD
GoodOver: ROSE DHU CREEK
4MI W OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2001 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 14,000
S-7-77/SEASIDE RD
GoodOver: STATION CREEK
9.2 MI SE BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2003 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 400
S-7-77/SEASIDE RD
GoodOver: STATION CREEK
9.4 MI SE BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2003 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 400
US 21
GoodOver: ALBERGOTTI CREEK
NEAR BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2014 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 30,300
US 17
GoodOver: US 21
8 MI N OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2009 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 13,200
US 21
GoodOver: CHOWAN CREEK
4.0 MI SE BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2000 Load: 47.0 t ADT: 20,200
US 278 WB
GoodOver: SC 170
18.5 MI SW OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 1991 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 32,750
S-7-200
GoodOver: SALTWATER CREEK
IN HILTON HEAD, Beaufort, SC
Built 2000 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 800
US 278 EB
GoodOver: SC 170
18.5 MI SW OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 1991 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 32,750
S-7-1715/JASPER BD
GoodOver: US 278
OKATIE, Beaufort, SC
Built 1999 Load: 48.6 t ADT: 200
SC 46/OKATIE HWY
GoodOver: NEW RIVER
10MI W OF BLUFFTON, Beaufort, SC
Built 2006 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 19,100
L-7-5929
GoodOver: MARSH
12.8 MI SW OF BEAUFORT, Beaufort, SC
Built 2004 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 425
US 17 SB
GoodOver: RR SCL ABANDONED
SHELDON, Beaufort, SC
Built 1994 Load: 52.8 t ADT: 6,750
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.