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.

Total bridges

157

Public highway bridges in Amherst County

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.

1920s

2
1930s

26
1940s

8
1950s

24
1960s

15
1970s

22
1980s

5
1990s

21
2000s

26
2010s

7
2020s

1

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Amherst County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
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.

All 157 Good 61 Fair 88 Poor 8

Good-condition bridges (61)

Sort:

Amherst County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Amherst County's Poor-condition bridges carry 868 vehicle crossings a day

59.9% of Amherst County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 28.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Amherst 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

Good-condition bridges (61)

FOREST ROAD

OTTER CREEK CAMPGR

Route 29 NBL Bus

High Peak Road

Maple Creek Rd

Oak Grove Road

Wood Haven Ct.

Route 29 SBL Bus.

North Fork Road

Wagon Trail Road

Lexington Tpke.

Lexington Turnpike

Dixie Airport Road

Izaak Walton Road

Izaac Walton Road

Sweet Briar Dr.

Galts Mill Road

Amelon Expressway

Cedar Gate Road

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Colony Road

Route 29 Business

Boxwood Farm Road

Lexington Turnpike

East Monitor Road

Big Island Road

FOREST ROAD

NBL Route 29

Elon Road

Perkins Mill Road

Amelon Expressway

Wagon Trail Road

East Perch Road

Dogwood Drive

North Fork Road

North Fork Road

Rte 29 NBL Bypass

Rt 60 Richmond Hwy

Mt. Pleasant Road

Rte. 29 SBL Bypass

North Fork Road

Galilee Road

Cedar Gate Road

Rt. 29 NBL

Lowesville Road

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Brightwells Mill R

Beverly Town Road

Izaak Walton Road

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

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