County profile · official public datasets

Washington County, TN

284 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.6% rated Good, 48.9% Fair, 2.5% Poor.

284
Public bridges: 48.6%
Good condition: 2.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Washington County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 24%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.5%
Poor-condition share: 284
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.

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Washington County ranks #23 of 95 Tennessee counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.5%). Washington County, Tennessee contains 284 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.6% are rated “Good,” 48.9% “Fair,” and 2.5% “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

284

Public highway bridges in Washington County

Good condition

48.6%

138 of 284 rated 7-9

Fair condition

48.9%

139 of 284 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.5%

7 of 284 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#23 of 95

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

Condition distribution

Share of 284 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.6% (138)

Fair

48.9% (139)

Poor

2.5% (7)

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 38,816 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,545 crossings a day against 15,346 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 284 of 284 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

37% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

105 of the 284 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 48.6% 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 71.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAP 34 244038W over CSX RAILROAD, built 1931, carries 27,789 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 7-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 38,816 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

4
1930s

22
1940s

10
1950s

23
1960s

34
1970s

51
1980s

65
1990s

38
2000s

16
2010s

13
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 65 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.9% 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 Washington County compares with Tennessee's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Tennessee counties nearest Washington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1976 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Washington County and the 5 Tennessee counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Greene County	306	30.4%	67%	2.6%	1974
Lincoln County	304	52.6%	44.4%	3%	1974
Bedford County	294	58.5%	38.8%	2.7%	1973
Washington County (this page)	284	48.6%	48.9%	2.5%	1976
Wayne County	274	24.1%	72.3%	3.6%	1987
Sevier County	273	54.6%	43.2%	2.2%	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 Washington 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 Washington County, both outside Tennessee so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside TN (284 bridges here).

Logan County, OK · 284 bridges
Tillman County, OK · 284 bridges
Cambria County, PA · 284 bridges
Susquehanna County, PA · 284 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 284 Good 138 Fair 139 Poor 7

All bridges (284)

Sort:

Washington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Washington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 38,816 vehicle crossings a day

37% of Washington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 71.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Washington 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

All bridges (284)

FAP 81 731214K

NFA 1369 (SA 9020)

I26 RT LN

FAP 34 LF LN

NFA 4784 244009L

NFA A136

NFA A164

NFA 1353 (SA 9002)

FAP 34

NFA B402

I26 LT LN

FAP 34

I26 RT LN

FAU 381

NFA 1352

NFA 2571 (SA 9012)

NFA 2628 (SA 9011)

NFA 2630 (SA 9009)

NFA 2642

NFA 2642 244017D

FAU 3957

FAU 3966

NFA A600

NFA A055

NFA A076

NFA A080

NFA A081

NFA A119

NFA A120

NFA A120

NFA A134

NFA A238

NFA A475

NFA A528

NFA A624

NFA A674

NFA A958

FAU 3985

NFA B063

NFA B178

NFA B182

NFA B195

NFA B472

FAU 3959 244055M

NFA B500

NFA A532

NFA 1349 (SA 9001)

I26 RT LN

I26 LT LN

I26 LT LN

Related