Total bridges
157
Public highway bridges in Amherst County
County profile · official public datasets
Amherst County, VA
157 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.9% rated Good, 56.1% Fair, 5.1% Poor.
- 157
- Public bridges
- 38.9%
- Good condition
- 5.1%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Amherst County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- 85th
- of 129 on Poor share
- 5.1%
- Poor-condition share
- 157
- public highway bridges
- 1972
- 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.
Amherst County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Amherst County ranks #85 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.1%). Amherst County, Virginia contains 157 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.9% are rated “Good,” 56.1% “Fair,” and 5.1% “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.
Good condition
38.9%
61 of 157 rated 7-9
Fair condition
56.1%
88 of 157 rated 5-6
Poor condition
5.1%
8 of 157 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#85 of 129
Among Virginia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 157 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 38.9% (61)
Fair 56.1% (88)
Poor 5.1% (8)
Amherst County's Poor-condition bridges carry 868 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 109 crossings a day against 3,615 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 157 of 157 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
59.9% of Amherst County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
94 of the 157 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 38.9% 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 28.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
Galts Mill Road over Beck Creek, built 1949, carries 248 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 868 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Amherst County's bridges were built
157 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s
1930–1939
26 bridges
- 1940s 8
1940–1949
8 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
24 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
15 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
22 bridges
- 1980s 5
1980–1989
5 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
21 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
26 bridges
- 2010s 7
2010–2019
7 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Virginia average (1974).
How Amherst County compares with Virginia's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Virginia counties nearest Amherst County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 128 Virginia counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll County | 161 | 41.6% | 57.1% | 1.2% | 1971 |
| Halifax County | 161 | 36% | 57.1% | 6.8% | 1976 |
| Hanover County | 161 | 19.9% | 76.4% | 3.7% | 1975 |
| Mecklenburg County | 160 | 31.3% | 63.1% | 5.6% | 1974 |
| Amherst County (this page) | 157 | 38.9% | 56.1% | 5.1% | 1972 |
| Campbell County | 153 | 49% | 51% | 0% | 1979 |
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 Amherst 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 Amherst County, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside VA (157 bridges here).
- Lowndes County, AL · 157 bridges
- Jefferson County, IA · 157 bridges
- Franklin County, MS · 157 bridges
- Washington County, MO · 157 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1972 here).
- Santa Clara County, CA · avg 1972 · 964 bridges
- Madison County, AL · avg 1972 · 710 bridges
- Kern County, CA · avg 1972 · 668 bridges
- York County, PA · avg 1972 · 569 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Fair-condition bridges (88)
FOREST ROAD
FairOver: SOUTH FORK PINEY RIVER
PINEY RIVER AREA, Amherst, VA
Built 1938 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 100
SBL Route 29
FairOver: Tye River
0.00-Amherst/0.00-Nelson, Amherst, VA
Built 1972 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 15,481
High Peak Road
FairOver: Harris Creek
.65-Rt.656/.32-Rt.657, Amherst, VA
Built 1959 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 1,461
Cedar Gate Road
FairOver: Harris Creek
0.31-Rt.707/0.01-Rt. 807, Amherst, VA
Built 1966 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 461
Boxwood Farm Rd.
FairOver: NS Railway
0.90-Rt.731 / 0.18-Rt.822, Amherst, VA
Built 1966 Load: 43.5 t ADT: 979
Amherst Highway
FairOver: Buffalo River
0.00-Rt.608 / 0.60-Rt.739, Amherst, VA
Built 1971 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 17,350
Amherst Hwy.
FairOver: Rt. 29 Bus. NBL & SBL
0.48-Rt 29N/0.52-Rt 210, Amherst, VA
Built 1966 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 8,457
Route 60
FairOver: NS Railway
.15-Rt 29 / .00-ECL Amh, Amherst, VA
Built 1936 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 5,764
Boxwood Farm Road
FairOver: Route 29 NBL & SBL
0.00-Rt29Bus/0.15-Rt731, Amherst, VA
Built 1971 Load: 46.3 t ADT: 2,486
Poor House Farm Rd
FairOver: Beaver Creek
.02-Rt 778 / 2.28-Rt 692, Amherst, VA
Built 1973 Load: 47.2 t ADT: 49
Love Lady Creek Rd
FairOver: Pedlar River
0.58-Rt 635/ 2.14-Rt 607, Amherst, VA
Built 1969 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 184
New Glasgow Road
FairOver: NS Railway
.24 Rt 729 / .00 Rt 708, Amherst, VA
Built 1980 Load: 51.7 t ADT: 802
Patrick Henry Hwy.
FairOver: Piney River
.00 AMH CL / .00 NEL CL, Amherst, VA
Built 1970 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 2,269
Route 29 SBL
FairOver: NS Railway
0.10-Rt 697/0.50-Rt 671, Amherst, VA
Built 1971 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 4,562
Route 29 NBL
FairOver: NS Railway
0.10-Rt 697/0.50-Rt 671, Amherst, VA
Built 1971 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 4,562
Five Forks Road
FairOver: NS Railway
0.04-Rt 1216/0.35-Rt 699, Amherst, VA
Built 1999 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 1,625
FOREST ROAD
FairOver: ROCKY ROW RUN
OFF SR 812, Amherst, VA
Built 1992 Load: 56.7 t ADT: 30
Beverly Town Road
FairOver: Browns Creek
1.90-Rt 640/6.00-Rck CL, Amherst, VA
Built 1995 Load: 68.9 t ADT: 111
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
FairOver: OTTER CREEK
43.0 MILES TO VA ROUTE 13, Amherst, VA
Built 1957 Load: 68.9 t ADT: 470
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
FairOver: OTTER CREEK
0.3 MILES TO VA ROUTE 130, Amherst, VA
Built 1957 Load: 68.9 t ADT: 474
Robinson Gap Road
FairOver: Enchanted Creek
4.70-Rt 640/3.20-Rock CL, Amherst, VA
Built 1995 Load: 78.0 t ADT: 111
NBL&SBL Amhst Hwy
FairOver: Rutledge Creek
1.18-S Bus 29 / .67-Rt 60, Amherst, VA
Built 1970 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 22,784
NBL Amherst Hwy
FairOver: Rutledge Creek
.84-S Bus 29 / 1.01-Rt 60, Amherst, VA
Built 1969 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 11,392
Elon Road
FairOver: Cashaw Creek
0.21-Rt 501/3.73-Rockb CL, Amherst, VA
Built 1928 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,750
Elon Road
FairOver: Otter Creek
.01-B.R. Park/2.69-Rt.501, Amherst, VA
Built 1983 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,347
Elon Road
FairOver: Clark Creek
9.22-Rt 29/0.10-Rt 618, Amherst, VA
Built 1943 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 3,530
Elon Road
FairOver: Maple Creek
0.80-Rt 635 / 8.63-Rt 501, Amherst, VA
Built 1947 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,347
Elon Road
FairOver: Terrapin Creek
16.99-Rt 29/2.50-Rt 501, Amherst, VA
Built 1948 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 1,347
Francis Avenue
FairOver: Harris Creek
0.07-Rt 1203/0.05-Rt 671, Amherst, VA
Built 1932 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 161
29 Bypass
FairOver: South Fork Stovall Creek
0.21-Rt 130/6.88-Rt 29, Amherst, VA
Built 2005 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 17,463
29 Bypass
FairOver: Middle Fork Stovall Crk
1.04-Rt 130/6.05-Rt 29 B, Amherst, VA
Built 2005 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 17,463
Rte 210 Connector
FairOver: Williams Run
0.50-Rt.622/1.70-Rt.29BYP, Amherst, VA
Built 2004 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 9,396
Rte 210 connector
FairOver: Williams Run Trib.
1.00-Rt.622/1.20-Rt.29, Amherst, VA
Built 2004 Load: 89.8 t ADT: 9,396
Lexington Tpke.
FairOver: Pedlar River
.25 Rt605/3.07Rockbri CL, Amherst, VA
Built 1932 Load: 93.4 t ADT: 958
Little Piney Road
FairOver: Little Piney River
2.20-RT.698/1.20-RT.781, Amherst, VA
Built 1932 Load: 98.9 t ADT: 57
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
FairOver: OTTER CREEK
1.9 MILES TO VA ROUTE 130, Amherst, VA
Built 1954 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 474
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
FairOver: OTTER CREEK
1.7 MILES TO VA ROUTE 130, Amherst, VA
Built 1957 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 474
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
FairOver: OTTER CREEK
0.8 MILES TO VISITORS CEN, Amherst, VA
Built 1957 Load: 99.9 t ADT: 474
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.