County profile · official public datasets

Saluda County, SC

125 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.8% rated Good, 52.8% Fair, 6.4% Poor.

125
Public bridges: 40.8%
Good condition: 6.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

30th
of 46 on Poor share: 6.4%
Poor-condition share: 125
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Saluda County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Saluda County ranks #30 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.4%). Saluda County, South Carolina contains 125 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.8% are rated “Good,” 52.8% “Fair,” and 6.4% “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

125

Public highway bridges in Saluda County

Good condition

40.8%

51 of 125 rated 7-9

Fair condition

52.8%

66 of 125 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.4%

8 of 125 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#30 of 46

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

Condition distribution

Share of 125 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

40.8% (51)

Fair

52.8% (66)

Poor

6.4% (8)

Saluda County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,175 vehicle crossings a day

That is 7.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 897 crossings a day against 751 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 125 of 125 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

56% of Saluda County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

70 of the 125 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 40.8% 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 59.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 178 over MOORES CREEK, built 1949, carries 4,300 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,175 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

4
1930s

4
1940s

14
1950s

14
1960s

15
1970s

29
1980s

13
1990s

13
2000s

5
2010s

8
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 29 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the South Carolina average (1977).

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

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Saluda County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.4% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 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 Saluda County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Union County	131	35.9%	49.6%	14.5%	1975
Jasper County	129	24.8%	75.2%	0%	1970
Dillon County	128	25%	70.3%	4.7%	1972
Saluda County (this page)	125	40.8%	52.8%	6.4%	1973
Edgefield County	124	34.7%	62.9%	2.4%	1972
Georgetown County	113	33.6%	61.1%	5.3%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (125 bridges here).

Hoonah-Angoon County, AK · 125 bridges
Tuolumne County, CA · 125 bridges
Worth County, GA · 125 bridges
Stone County, MS · 125 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 125 Good 51 Fair 66 Poor 8

All bridges (125)

Sort:

Saluda County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Saluda County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,175 vehicle crossings a day

56% of Saluda County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 59.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Saluda 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

All bridges (125)

S-41-79

SC 121

S-41-252

S-41-449

C-41-545

C-41-57

US 178

S-41-107

SC 121

S-41-68

S-41-360

S-41-98

S-41-82

S-41-255

S-41-107

S-41-153

S-41-114

S-41-59

S-41-59

S-41-123

S-41-252

S-41-35

S-41-154

S-41-107

S-41-65

S-41-571

S-41-571

S-41-417

S-41-59

S-41-150

S-41-192

S-41-358

S-41-380

S-41-342

S-41-375

S-41-31

S-41-65

SC 391

US 378

US 178

US 178

S-41-400

S-41-227

S-41-42

S-41-44

S-41-345

S-41-227

S-41-44

S-41-21

S-41-148

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