Total bridges
174
Public highway bridges in Darlington County
County profile · official public datasets
Darlington County, SC
174 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.8% rated Good, 62.1% Fair, 5.2% Poor.
- 174
- Public bridges
- 32.8%
- Good condition
- 5.2%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Darlington County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 48%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 5.2%
- Poor-condition share
- 174
- public highway bridges
- 1974
- 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.
Darlington County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Darlington County ranks #22 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.2%). Darlington County, South Carolina contains 174 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.8% are rated “Good,” 62.1% “Fair,” and 5.2% “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
32.8%
57 of 174 rated 7-9
Fair condition
62.1%
108 of 174 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5.2%
9 of 174 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#22 of 46
Among South Carolina counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 174 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 32.8% (57)
Fair 62.1% (108)
Poor 5.2% (9)
Darlington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 22,600 vehicle crossings a day
That is 3.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,511 crossings a day against 3,389 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 174 of 174 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
62.6% of Darlington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
109 of the 174 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 32.8% 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 31% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
SC 34 over SWIFT CREEK, built 1939, carries 7,000 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 22,600 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Darlington County's bridges were built
174 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s 15
1930–1939
15 bridges
- 1940s 5
1940–1949
5 bridges
- 1950s 13
1950–1959
13 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
37 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
43 bridges
- 1980s 10
1980–1989
10 bridges
- 1990s 17
1990–1999
17 bridges
- 2000s 12
2000–2009
12 bridges
- 2010s 12
2010–2019
12 bridges
- 2020s 6
2020–2029
6 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 43 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the South Carolina average (1977).
How Darlington County compares with South Carolina's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Darlington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.2% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 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 |
| Kershaw County | 174 | 39.7% | 55.2% | 5.2% | 1978 |
| Darlington County (this page) | 174 | 32.8% | 62.1% | 5.2% | 1974 |
| Clarendon County | 170 | 25.3% | 72.9% | 1.8% | 1976 |
| Sumter County | 166 | 44% | 45.2% | 10.8% | 1981 |
| Abbeville County | 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 Darlington 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 Darlington County, both outside South Carolina so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside SC (174 bridges here).
- Hempstead County, AR · 174 bridges
- Eagle County, CO · 174 bridges
- Washington County, IN · 174 bridges
- Lac qui Parle County, MN · 174 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1974 here).
- Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
- Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
- Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
- Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (174)
SC 34
GoodOver: PEE DEE RIVER SWAMP
6.5MI E DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2005 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 1,600
SC 34
GoodOver: PEE DEE RIVER SWAMP
7MI E DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2005 Load: 42.8 t ADT: 1,600
S-16-133
GoodOver: BLACK CREEK
1MI N DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2016 Load: 43.7 t ADT: 1,750
S-16-49
GoodOver: STAR FORK BRANCH
4.0MI SE OF DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2001 Load: 44.1 t ADT: 7,000
S-16-14
GoodOver: SWIFT CREEK NO. 1
IN NW DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2002 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 1,550
S-16-23
GoodOver: BLACK CREEK
4.0 MI NW HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 2001 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 2,100
S-16-49
GoodOver: TRIB TO HIGH HILL CREEK
1.2 MI S DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 1996 Load: 45.0 t ADT: 7,000
S-16-35
GoodOver: HIGH HILL CREEK
4MI N FLORENCE, Darlington, SC
Built 2000 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 3,000
S-16-573
GoodOver: GULLY SWAMP
4MI N LAMAR, Darlington, SC
Built 2006 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 375
I-95 NB
GoodOver: BLACK CREEK
6MI SE OF DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2004 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 28,150
I-95 SB
GoodOver: BLACK CREEK
6MI SE OF DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2004 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 28,150
US 52 BUS
GoodOver: SWIFT CREEK
IN DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 2023 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 6,000
S-16-115
GoodOver: TRIB TO BLACK CR
4 MI E HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 2020 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 475
S-16-28
GoodOver: BOGGY CREEK
6 MI S OF HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 2019 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 800
S-16-13
GoodOver: HIGH HILL CREEK
7 MI SW OF DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 1986 Load: 59.6 t ADT: 1,400
S-16-18
PoorOver: BLACK CREEK
IN HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 1969 Load: 10.7 t ADT: 3,400
US 15
PoorOver: SPARROW SWAMP
2MI W OF LYDIA, Darlington, SC
Built 1922 Load: 13.3 t ADT: 5,300
S-16-19
PoorOver: BOGGY SWAMP
5.5MI N LAMAR, Darlington, SC
Built 1956 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 425
S-16-41
PoorOver: FLAT CREEK
6MI S SOCIETY HILL, Darlington, SC
Built 1965 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 375
S-16-697
PoorOver: NEWMAN & SPARROW SWAMP
3MI SE LAMAR, Darlington, SC
Built 1966 Load: 16.2 t ADT: 175
SC 34
PoorOver: SWIFT CREEK
IN DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 1939 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 7,000
S-16-786
PoorOver: BELLYCHE SWAMP
4 MI W DARLINGTON, Darlington, SC
Built 1985 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 125
US 15
PoorOver: BIG SEED TICK CREEK
7 MI NE OF HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 1931 Load: 28.2 t ADT: 2,900
US 15
PoorOver: LITTLE SEED TICK CREEK
6.0 MI NE HARTSVILLE, Darlington, SC
Built 1931 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 2,900
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.