County profile · official public datasets

Union County, SC

131 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 35.9% rated Good, 49.6% Fair, 14.5% Poor.

131
Public bridges: 35.9%
Good condition: 14.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

46th
of 46 on Poor share: 14.5%
Poor-condition share: 131
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Union County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Union County ranks #46 of 46 South Carolina counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 14.5%). Union County, South Carolina contains 131 public highway bridges. Roughly 35.9% are rated “Good,” 49.6% “Fair,” and 14.5% “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

131

Public highway bridges in Union County

Good condition

35.9%

47 of 131 rated 7-9

Fair condition

49.6%

65 of 131 rated 5-6

Poor condition

14.5%

19 of 131 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#46 of 46

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

Condition distribution

Share of 131 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

35.9% (47)

Fair

49.6% (65)

Poor

14.5% (19)

Union County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,525 vehicle crossings a day

That is 16.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 14.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,028 crossings a day against 686 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 131 of 131 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

48.1% of Union County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

63 of the 131 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 35.9% 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 16.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SC 49 over FAIRFOREST CREEK, built 1931, carries 3,200 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 19-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 19,525 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

4
1930s

11
1940s

4
1950s

20
1960s

18
1970s

16
1980s

21
1990s

12
2000s

8
2010s

15
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 21 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the South Carolina average (1977).

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

The 5 South Carolina counties nearest Union County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 14.5% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 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 Union County and the 5 South Carolina counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Fairfield County	139	36.7%	55.4%	7.9%	1976
Union County (this page)	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	125	40.8%	52.8%	6.4%	1973
Edgefield County	124	34.7%	62.9%	2.4%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside SC (131 bridges here).

Columbia County, AR · 131 bridges
Laurel County, KY · 131 bridges
Franklin County, LA · 131 bridges
Wright County, MO · 131 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside SC (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 131 Good 47 Fair 65 Poor 19

All bridges (131)

Sort:

S-44-223

Good

Over: SUGAR CREEK

9.9 MI W UNION, Union, SC

Built 2010 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 175

S-44-16

Good

Over: PADGETTS CREEK

9.5 MI SW UNION, Union, SC

Built 2000 Load: 43.4 t ADT: 175

S-44-602

Good

Over: PINCKNEY CREEK

11.1 MI NE UNION, Union, SC

Built 2014 Load: 45.7 t ADT: 25

S-44-24

Good

Over: SWIFT RUN CREEK

8.1 MI SW UNION, Union, SC

Built 1988 Load: 46.7 t ADT: 225

S-44-134

Good

Over: BUFFALO CREEK

4.1 MI SW UNION, Union, SC

Built 2014 Load: 47.3 t ADT: 700

S-50

Good

Over: STREAM

CITY OF UNION, Union, SC

Built 2009 Load: 47.6 t ADT: 1,750

SC 9

Good

Over: BROAD RIVER CANA

TOWN OF LOCKHART, Union, SC

Built 2019 Load: 48.3 t ADT: 3,000

S-41

Good

Over: SHOALS CREEK

2 MI SW OF UNION, Union, SC

Built 2021 Load: 49.2 t ADT: 275

SC 215

Good

Over: S.C.L. RAILROAD

TOWN OF CARLISLE, Union, SC

Built 2007 Load: 51.8 t ADT: 1,950

S-44-24

Good

Over: TINKER CREEK BRANCH

4 MI SE UNION, Union, SC

Built 1988 Load: 55.1 t ADT: 225

C-44-252

Good

Over: BRUSHY CREEK

6.8MI S OF UNION, Union, SC

Built 2006 Load: 56.1 t ADT: 200

C-44-895

Good

Over: BRACCH SHOAL CREEK

2 MI SW OF UNION, Union, SC

Union County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Union County's Poor-condition bridges carry 19,525 vehicle crossings a day

48.1% of Union County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 16.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Union 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 (131)

S-44-223

S-44-16

S-44-602

S-44-24

S-44-134

S-50

SC 9

S-41

SC 215

S-44-24

C-44-252

C-44-895

SC 49/SC 215 CON

SC 105

US 176

SC 215

S-44-68

SC 49

S-44-33

SC 114

S-44-73

S-44-4

US 176

S-44-67

S-44-438

S-44-18

S-44-16

S-44-408

SC 105

SC 18

SC 72

Related