County profile · official public datasets

Scott County, TN

111 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.3% rated Good, 71.2% Fair, 4.5% Poor.

111
Public bridges: 24.3%
Good condition: 4.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

59th
of 95 on Poor share: 4.5%
Poor-condition share: 111
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.

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Scott County ranks #59 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.5%). Scott County, Tennessee contains 111 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.3% are rated “Good,” 71.2% “Fair,” and 4.5% “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

111

Public highway bridges in Scott County

Good condition

24.3%

27 of 111 rated 7-9

Fair condition

71.2%

79 of 111 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.5%

5 of 111 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 111 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

24.3% (27)

Fair

71.2% (79)

Poor

4.5% (5)

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 919 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 184 crossings a day against 1,217 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 111 of 111 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

36% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

40 of the 111 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 24.3% 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 83.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

NFA 2400 841834C over SOUTHERN RAILWAY, built 1937, carries 769 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 919 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

4
1930s

6
1940s

5
1950s

12
1960s

7
1970s

20
1980s

26
1990s

16
2000s

7
2010s

3
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Tennessee average (1977).

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

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Scott County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.5% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Scott County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Hamblen County	119	17.6%	79.8%	2.5%	1976
Houston County	118	45.8%	50.8%	3.4%	1978
Loudon County	117	53%	45.3%	1.7%	1971
Scott County (this page)	111	24.3%	71.2%	4.5%	1973
Johnson County	109	44%	51.4%	4.6%	1972
Decatur County	104	35.6%	63.5%	1%	1982

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (111 bridges here).

Fairbanks North Star County, AK · 111 bridges
Mitchell County, GA · 111 bridges
Texas County, OK · 111 bridges
Columbia County, FL · 112 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges
Sacramento County, CA · avg 1973 · 740 bridges

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

All 111 Good 27 Fair 79 Poor 5

Good-condition bridges (27)

Sort:

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 919 vehicle crossings a day

36% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 83.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Scott 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

Good-condition bridges (27)

FAP 29

FAP 29

NFA 1400 (SA 7607)

NFA 1261 (SA 7604)

NFA 2385 (SA 7608)

NFA 2398

NFA 2400

NFA A008

NFA A054

NFA A450

NFA A120

NFA A121

NFA A137

NFA A146

NFA A300

NFA A323

NFA A301

NFA A276

NFA A442

NFA A295

NFA A196

NFA A508

NFA 1261 (SA 7604)

NFA 1261 (SA 7604)

FAP 63

FAP 63

LEATHERWOOD FORD R

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