County profile · official public datasets

Orangeburg County, SC

273 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 17.9% rated Good, 76.6% Fair, 5.5% Poor.

273
Public bridges
17.9%
Good condition
5.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Orangeburg County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

25th
of 46 on Poor share
5.5%
Poor-condition share
273
public highway bridges
1966
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.

Orangeburg County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Orangeburg County ranks #25 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.5%). Orangeburg County, South Carolina contains 273 public highway bridges. Roughly 17.9% are rated “Good,” 76.6% “Fair,” and 5.5% “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

273

Public highway bridges in Orangeburg County

Good condition

17.9%

49 of 273 rated 7-9

Fair condition

76.6%

209 of 273 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.5%

15 of 273 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#25 of 46

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

Condition distribution

Share of 273 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
17.9% (49)
Fair
76.6% (209)
Poor
5.5% (15)

Orangeburg County's Poor-condition bridges carry 10,902 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 727 crossings a day against 3,837 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 273 of 273 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

71.4% of Orangeburg County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

195 of the 273 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 17.9% 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 33.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 176 over TARGET CREEK, built 1950, carries 3,700 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 10,902 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Orangeburg County's bridges were built

273 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 59 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1966, 11 years older than the South Carolina average of 1977.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Orangeburg County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 11 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Orangeburg County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Pickens County 291 9.3%
York County 288 7.6%
Florence County 277 2.5%
Orangeburg County (this page) 273 5.5%
Laurens County 259 7.7%
Colleton County 231 1.7%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (273 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1966 here).

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

All 273 Good 49 Fair 209 Poor 15

All bridges (273)

S-38-74

Good

Over: N. EDISTO RIVER SWP

6MI NW ORANGEBURG, Orangeburg, SC

Built 2001 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 5,500

S-38-82

Good

Over: PROVIDENCE SWAMP

8 MI S ELLOREE, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1948 Load: 44.7 t ADT: 550

US 301 NB

Good

Over: SOUTH EDISTO RIVER SWAMP

.1 MI N OF BAMBERG CO LN, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1970 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 3,000

S-38-288

Good

Over: GIBSON BRANCH

3.5MI SE NORTH, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1993 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 475

US 301 SB

Good

Over: SNAKE SWAMP

2MI E OF COPE, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1971 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 3,300

S-38-136

Good

Over: SANDY RUN SWAMP

6MI E HOLLY HILL, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1997 Load: 48.9 t ADT: 550

L-38-2129

Good

Over: GRAMLING CREEK

5 MI EAST OF ORANGEBURG, Orangeburg, SC

Built 2004 Load: 53.1 t ADT: 200

S-38-97

Good

Over: BULL SWAMP CREEK

6MI SE NORTH, Orangeburg, SC

Built 2001 Load: 54.8 t ADT: 350

C-38-1239

Poor

Over: BUCK BRANCH

1MI W OF BOWMAN_(OC-4115), Orangeburg, SC

Built 1976 Load: 2.6 t ADT: 200

C-38-537

Poor

Over: CATTLE CREEK

7 MI SW BOWMAN, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1970 Load: 2.9 t ADT: 200

C-38-3277

Poor

Over: SNAKE SWAMP

4MI N OF COPE_(OC-2121), Orangeburg, SC

Built 1979 Load: 2.9 t ADT: 127

C-38-1984

Poor

Over: BUCK CREEK

2MI NW BOWMAN_(OC-4117), Orangeburg, SC

Built 1980 Load: 2.9 t ADT: 200

S-38-92

Poor

Over: COW CASTLE CREEK

4MI E BOWMAN, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1971 Load: 3.2 t ADT: 225

C-38-421

Poor

Over: LONG BRANCH

6.0 MI W NORTH_(OC-1426), Orangeburg, SC

Built 1976 Load: 3.6 t ADT: 200

C-38-498

Poor

Over: COW CASTLE CREEK

1MI NW BOWMAN (OC-4212), Orangeburg, SC

Built 1939 Load: 12.0 t ADT: 200

S-38-200

Poor

Over: BUSHY BRANCH

6MI S ELLOREE, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1953 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 325

S-38-640

Poor

Over: TRIB TO FOUR HOLE SWAMP

4MI SE HOLLY HILL, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1968 Load: 17.5 t ADT: 50

S-38-690

Poor

Over: ROBERTS SWAMP

6 MI E NORWAY, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1960 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 175

S-38-77

Poor

Over: LITTLE LIMESTONE CREEK

9MI NW ORANGEBURG, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1956 Load: 18.5 t ADT: 250

SC 210

Poor

Over: FOUR HOLE SWAMP

8MI E OF BOWMAN, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1927 Load: 20.7 t ADT: 800

US 178

Poor

Over: BULL SWAMP

4MI E OF NORTH, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1940 Load: 23.7 t ADT: 3,500

US 176

Poor

Over: TARGET CREEK

4MI NW OF HOLLY HILL, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1950 Load: 25.6 t ADT: 3,700

S-38-36

Poor

Over: I-26

1 MI N BOWMAN, Orangeburg, SC

Built 1960 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 750

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.