County profile · official public datasets

Alleghany County, VA

197 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 27.9% rated Good, 68% Fair, 4.1% Poor.

197
Public bridges: 27.9%
Good condition: 4.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Alleghany 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.

73rd
of 129 on Poor share: 4.1%
Poor-condition share: 197
public highway bridges: 1966
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.

Alleghany County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Alleghany County ranks #73 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.1%). Alleghany County, Virginia contains 197 public highway bridges. Roughly 27.9% are rated “Good,” 68% “Fair,” and 4.1% “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

197

Public highway bridges in Alleghany County

Good condition

27.9%

55 of 197 rated 7-9

Fair condition

68%

134 of 197 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.1%

8 of 197 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#73 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 197 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

27.9% (55)

Fair

68% (134)

Poor

4.1% (8)

Alleghany County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,386 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,048 crossings a day against 1,955 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 197 of 197 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

67% of Alleghany County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

132 of the 197 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 27.9% 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 62.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

LOWMOOR SELMA ROAD over I-64 & RTEs 60 & 220, built 1964, carries 5,229 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 8,386 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

10
1930s

33
1940s

8
1950s

15
1960s

44
1970s

38
1980s

11
1990s

12
2000s

16
2010s

8
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 44 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1966, 8 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.

How Alleghany County compares with Virginia's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Alleghany County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.1% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1966 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is 6 years older.

Showing the 5 closest of 128 Virginia counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Alleghany County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bedford County	204	52%	45.1%	2.9%	1967
Roanoke County	204	37.7%	62.3%	0%	1969
Botetourt County	202	29.2%	70.8%	0%	1968
Norfolk city County	199	15.6%	84.4%	0%	1979
Alleghany County (this page)	197	27.9%	68%	4.1%	1966
Montgomery County	196	44.9%	52.6%	2.6%	1975

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (197 bridges here).

Crawford County, IL · 197 bridges
Fountain County, IN · 197 bridges
Warrick County, IN · 197 bridges
Allamakee County, IA · 197 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1966 here).

Butler County, KS · avg 1966 · 591 bridges
Grafton County, NH · avg 1966 · 544 bridges
Queens County, NY · avg 1966 · 514 bridges
Lehigh County, PA · avg 1966 · 381 bridges

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

All 197 Good 55 Fair 134 Poor 8

All bridges (197)

Sort:

Alleghany County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Alleghany County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,386 vehicle crossings a day

67% of Alleghany County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 62.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Alleghany County compares with Virginia'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 (197)

STONEWALL LANE

JACKSON RIVER HWY

JACKSON RIVER HWY

POTTS CREEK ROAD

KANAWHA TRAIL

COMMERCIAL AVENUE

BENS RUN ROAD

FOREST ROAD

FOREST ROAD

LOWELL STREET

NORTH MOUNTAIN RD

EBL ROUTE 0064

POTTS CREEK ROAD

SAM SNEAD HIGHWAY

INDIAN DRAFT ROAD

BLUE SPRING RUN RD

LONGDALE FURNACE R

KANAWHA TRAIL

INDIAN DRAFT ROAD

JACKSON RIVER HWY

MIDLAND TRAIL

STATE AVENUE

DOUTHAT ROAD

MARKET AVENUE

SULPHUR SPRING RD

RICH PATCH ROAD

RICH PATCH ROAD

SNAKE RUN RD

DOUTHAT ROAD

MIDLAND TRAIL

MILL BRANCH ROAD

POTTS CREEK ROAD

POTTS CREEK ROAD

GRAFTON STREET

LNGDALE FURNACE RD

KANAWHA TRAIL

MORRIS HILL ROAD

SNAKE RUN ROAD

RICH PATCH ROAD

RICH PATCH ROAD

GOLF COURSE RD

JOHNSON CREEK ROAD

MIDLAND TRAIL

WBL ROUTE 0064

JAMISON MTN ROAD

VALLEY RIDGE RD

POTTS CREEK ROAD

THORNY LANE

DUNLAP CREEK ROAD

LONGDALE FURNACE

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