County profile · official public datasets

Laurens County, SC

259 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.8% rated Good, 59.5% Fair, 7.7% Poor.

259
Public bridges: 32.8%
Good condition: 7.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

33rd
of 46 on Poor share: 7.7%
Poor-condition share: 259
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.

Laurens County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Laurens County ranks #33 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 7.7%). Laurens County, South Carolina contains 259 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.8% are rated “Good,” 59.5% “Fair,” and 7.7% “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

259

Public highway bridges in Laurens County

Good condition

32.8%

85 of 259 rated 7-9

Fair condition

59.5%

154 of 259 rated 5-6

Poor condition

7.7%

20 of 259 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#33 of 46

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

Condition distribution

Share of 259 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.8% (85)

Fair

59.5% (154)

Poor

7.7% (20)

Laurens County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,450 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 7.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,073 crossings a day against 1,973 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 259 of 259 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.6% of Laurens County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

144 of the 259 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 53.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-385 NB over BEARDS CREEK, built 1958, carries 11,400 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 21,450 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

4
1930s

8
1940s

19
1950s

45
1960s

46
1970s

30
1980s

29
1990s

39
2000s

22
2010s

12
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 46 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the South Carolina average (1977).

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

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Laurens County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 7.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 against a peer-group mean of 1976 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 Laurens County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
York County	288	42.7%	49.7%	7.6%	1984
Florence County	277	33.9%	63.5%	2.5%	1976
Orangeburg County	273	17.9%	76.6%	5.5%	1966
Laurens County (this page)	259	32.8%	59.5%	7.7%	1974
Colleton County	231	35.9%	62.3%	1.7%	1971
Lexington County	229	48.5%	48.9%	2.6%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (259 bridges here).

Apache County, AZ · 259 bridges
Gila County, AZ · 259 bridges
Ellsworth County, KS · 259 bridges
Hampshire County, MA · 259 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 259 Good 85 Fair 154 Poor 20

Good-condition bridges (85)

Sort:

Laurens County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Laurens County's Poor-condition bridges carry 21,450 vehicle crossings a day

55.6% of Laurens County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 53.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Laurens 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 (85)

S-30-266

S-30-347

SC 72

SC 252

S-30-38

S-30-300

S-30-88

S-30-34

SC 72 EB

S-30-29

SC 72 WB

SC 252

S-30-110

C-30-1402

S-30-276

I-385 NB

I-385 SB

S-30-82

S-30-6

S-30-340

S-30-54

S-30-40

S-30-108

S-30-260

S-30-116

S-30-64

S-30-34

S-30-731

SC 560

S-30-42

S-30-315

S-30-309

SC 101

C-30-1402

US 76

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