County profile · official public datasets

Carter County, TN

195 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 44.6% rated Good, 43.1% Fair, 12.3% Poor.

195
Public bridges: 44.6%
Good condition: 12.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

93rd
of 95 on Poor share: 12.3%
Poor-condition share: 195
public highway bridges: 1976
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.

Carter County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Carter County ranks #93 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 12.3%). Carter County, Tennessee contains 195 public highway bridges. Roughly 44.6% are rated “Good,” 43.1% “Fair,” and 12.3% “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

195

Public highway bridges in Carter County

Good condition

44.6%

87 of 195 rated 7-9

Fair condition

43.1%

84 of 195 rated 5-6

Poor condition

12.3%

24 of 195 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#93 of 95

Among Tennessee counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 195 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

44.6% (87)

Fair

43.1% (84)

Poor

12.3% (24)

Carter County's Poor-condition bridges carry 42,209 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 12.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,759 crossings a day against 5,541 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 195 of 195 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

41% of Carter County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

80 of the 195 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 44.6% 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 57% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAP 67 over POWDER BRANCH, built 1986, carries 24,080 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 24-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 42,209 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1910s

2
1920s

7
1930s

4
1940s

13
1950s

19
1960s

27
1970s

14
1980s

57
1990s

27
2000s

8
2010s

7
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 57 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1976) matches the Tennessee average (1977).

How Carter County compares with Tennessee's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Carter County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 12.3% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is in line with the group.

Showing the 5 closest of 94 Tennessee counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Carter County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Tipton County	201	40.3%	55.2%	4.5%	1985
Bradley County	199	58.8%	38.7%	2.5%	1975
Carter County (this page)	195	44.6%	43.1%	12.3%	1976
Hardin County	192	36.5%	59.9%	3.6%	1982
Cocke County	190	20%	71.6%	8.4%	1977
Hawkins County	190	21.1%	70%	8.9%	1971

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 Carter 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 Carter County, both outside Tennessee so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (195 bridges here).

Otero County, CO · 195 bridges
Lucas County, IA · 195 bridges
LaSalle County, LA · 195 bridges
Sabine County, LA · 195 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TN (1976 here).

Marion County, IN · avg 1976 · 958 bridges
Mohave County, AZ · avg 1976 · 641 bridges
Comanche County, OK · avg 1976 · 593 bridges
Prince George's County, MD · avg 1976 · 576 bridges

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

All 195 Good 87 Fair 84 Poor 24

Poor-condition bridges (24)

Sort:

Carter County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Carter County's Poor-condition bridges carry 42,209 vehicle crossings a day

41% of Carter County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 57% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Carter County compares with Tennessee's closest counties by inventory size

Nationwide counties with similar inventory size or average build year

Similar inventory size

Similar average build year

Poor-condition bridges (24)

FAU 06022

NFA A985

NFA 1077 (SA 1011)

NFA A716

NFA 1077 (SA 1011)

NFA A618

NFA A752

NFA A961

NFA 1385 (SA 1012)

NFA A373

NFA C102

NFA A988

NFA A919

NFA A906

NFA A767

NFA A642

NFA A724

NFA A656

NFA A634

FAP 67

NFA 2680 (SA 1001)

NFA A746

FAP 67

NFA A972

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