Total bridges
125
Public highway bridges in Saluda County
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.
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.
When Saluda County's bridges were built
125 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1920s 4
1920–1929
4 bridges
- 1930s 4
1930–1939
4 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
14 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
14 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
15 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
29 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
13 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
13 bridges
- 2000s 5
2000–2009
5 bridges
- 2010s 8
2010–2019
8 bridges
- 2020s 5
2020–2029
5 bridges
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.
| 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.
Poor-condition bridges (8)
S-41-164
PoorOver: BR OF LITTLE SALUDA RV
5.5 MI NE OF SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1952 Load: 0.0 t ADT: 25
S-41-21
PoorOver: HALFWAY SWAMP CREEK
9.8 MI NW SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1970 Load: 14.6 t ADT: 125
US 178
PoorOver: MOORES CREEK
10.0 MI SE OF SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1949 Load: 17.2 t ADT: 4,300
S-41-98
PoorOver: HALFWAY SWAMP CREEK
10.3MI NW SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1955 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 375
S-41-432
PoorOver: RICHLAND BR
4.9MI SE SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1972 Load: 17.8 t ADT: 50
S-41-571
PoorOver: BR TO INDIAN CREEK
9.1MI NE SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1970 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 150
SC 39
PoorOver: SALUDA RIV
13.0 MI NW OF SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1992 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 2,100
S-41-432
PoorOver: RICHLAND BR
4.8MI SE SALUDA, Saluda, SC
Built 1972 Load: 25.3 t ADT: 50
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.