County profile · official public datasets

Georgetown County, SC

113 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 33.6% rated Good, 61.1% Fair, 5.3% Poor.

113
Public bridges: 33.6%
Good condition: 5.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

24th
of 46 on Poor share: 5.3%
Poor-condition share: 113
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Georgetown County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Georgetown County ranks #24 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.3%). Georgetown County, South Carolina contains 113 public highway bridges. Roughly 33.6% are rated “Good,” 61.1% “Fair,” and 5.3% “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

113

Public highway bridges in Georgetown County

Good condition

33.6%

38 of 113 rated 7-9

Fair condition

61.1%

69 of 113 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.3%

6 of 113 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#24 of 46

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

Condition distribution

Share of 113 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

33.6% (38)

Fair

61.1% (69)

Poor

5.3% (6)

Georgetown County's Poor-condition bridges carry 37,050 vehicle crossings a day

That is 13.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 6,175 crossings a day against 2,093 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 113 of 113 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.4% of Georgetown County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

57 of the 113 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 33.6% 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 68% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 17 over WACCAMAW RIVER, built 1966, carries 25,200 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 37,050 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

3
1940s

5
1950s

6
1960s

22
1970s

30
1980s

11
1990s

16
2000s

7
2010s

7
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 30 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the South Carolina average (1977).

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

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Georgetown County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.3% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Georgetown County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Dillon County	128	25%	70.3%	4.7%	1972
Saluda County	125	40.8%	52.8%	6.4%	1973
Edgefield County	124	34.7%	62.9%	2.4%	1972
Hampton County	113	25.7%	68.1%	6.2%	1972
Georgetown County (this page)	113	33.6%	61.1%	5.3%	1977
Marion County	112	34.8%	60.7%	4.5%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (113 bridges here).

Lake County, FL · 113 bridges
Chattooga County, GA · 113 bridges
Jersey County, IL · 113 bridges
Tipton County, IN · 113 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 113 Good 38 Fair 69 Poor 6

Good-condition bridges (38)

Sort:

Georgetown County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Georgetown County's Poor-condition bridges carry 37,050 vehicle crossings a day

50.4% of Georgetown County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 68% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Georgetown 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

Good-condition bridges (38)

S-22-52

US 17 ALT

C-22-1306

S-22-387

S-22-545

C-22-1306

US 701

US 701

US 17 NB

C-22-1306

SC 513

SC 261

SC 261

C-22-1800

S-22-38

S-22-36

S-22-42

US 521

S-22-307

C-22-255

S-22-296

S-22-296

SC 51

S-22-4

US 521 NB

SC 51

SC 51

S-22-35

US 521 SB

S-22-14

S-22-42

SC 41

S-22-352

US 521

US 521

S-22-45

S-22-264

US 17 ALT

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