County profile · official public datasets

Cumberland County, TN

137 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.8% rated Good, 48.9% Fair, 18.2% Poor.

137
Public bridges: 32.8%
Good condition: 18.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Cumberland 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.

95th
of 95 on Poor share: 18.2%
Poor-condition share: 137
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

Cumberland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Cumberland County ranks #95 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 18.2%). Cumberland County, Tennessee contains 137 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.8% are rated “Good,” 48.9% “Fair,” and 18.2% “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

137

Public highway bridges in Cumberland County

Good condition

32.8%

45 of 137 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.9%

67 of 137 rated 5-6

Poor condition

18.2%

25 of 137 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#95 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 137 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

32.8% (45)

Fair

48.9% (67)

Poor

18.2% (25)

Cumberland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 254,403 vehicle crossings a day

That is 24.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 18.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 10,176 crossings a day against 4,426 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 137 of 137 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

62% of Cumberland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

85 of the 137 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 32.8% 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 14.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I40 over SR 24, built 1963, carries 36,293 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 254,403 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

6
1930s

8
1940s

2
1950s

15
1960s

42
1970s

18
1980s

20
1990s

11
2000s

11
2010s

3
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 42 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 30.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1971, 6 years older than the Tennessee average of 1977.

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

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Cumberland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 18.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Cumberland County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Monroe County	145	62.1%	33.8%	4.1%	1976
Polk County	140	55%	37.1%	7.9%	1979
Campbell County	137	24.8%	71.5%	3.6%	1973
Cumberland County (this page)	137	32.8%	48.9%	18.2%	1971
Lewis County	136	19.1%	77.9%	2.9%	1979
Jackson County	131	39.7%	57.3%	3.1%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (137 bridges here).

Fremont County, CO · 137 bridges
Prowers County, CO · 137 bridges
Fremont County, ID · 137 bridges
Orange County, IN · 137 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside TN (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

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

All 137 Good 45 Fair 67 Poor 25

Poor-condition bridges (25)

Sort:

Cumberland County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Cumberland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 254,403 vehicle crossings a day

62% of Cumberland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 14.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Cumberland 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 (25)

NFA A289

NFA A153

NFA A831

NFA A158

I40

I40 EBL

I40 WBL

FAP 28

FAU 24

FAP 28

FAS 1

FAP 28

NFA A645

NFA 2202 (SA 1814)

FAS 1

FAS 1

FAP 1

I40 WBL

FAP 28

FAP 28

NFA 2202 (SA 1814)

I40

FAS 101

NFA 1203

NFA 1170 (SA 1816)

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