County profile · official public datasets

Arlington County, VA

183 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 14.8% rated Good, 81.4% Fair, 3.8% Poor.

183
Public bridges: 14.8%
Good condition: 3.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

70th
of 129 on Poor share: 3.8%
Poor-condition share: 183
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.

Arlington County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Arlington County ranks #70 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.8%). Arlington County, Virginia contains 183 public highway bridges. Roughly 14.8% are rated “Good,” 81.4% “Fair,” and 3.8% “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

183

Public highway bridges in Arlington County

Good condition

14.8%

27 of 183 rated 7-9

Fair condition

81.4%

149 of 183 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.8%

7 of 183 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#70 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 183 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

14.8% (27)

Fair

81.4% (149)

Poor

3.8% (7)

Arlington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,097 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 8,157 crossings a day against 14,682 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 183 of 183 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

52.5% of Arlington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

96 of the 183 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 14.8% 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 21.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

N.GLEBE & O.DOMI.D over YORKTOWN BOULEVARD, built 1965, carries 12,355 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 57,097 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

2
1940s

16
1950s

13
1960s

26
1970s

68
1980s

42
1990s

8
2000s

2
2010s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 68 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 37.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1972) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Arlington County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.8% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1972 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Arlington County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Smyth County	190	17.9%	77.9%	4.2%	1970
Chesapeake city County	187	42.8%	51.3%	5.9%	1990
Washington County	186	17.2%	81.7%	1.1%	1968
Arlington County (this page)	183	14.8%	81.4%	3.8%	1972
Wythe County	181	17.7%	79%	3.3%	1966
Franklin County	174	42.5%	55.2%	2.3%	1966

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (183 bridges here).

St. Clair County, AL · 183 bridges
Richmond County, GA · 183 bridges
Marshall County, IN · 183 bridges
Appanoose County, IA · 183 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 183 Good 27 Fair 149 Poor 7

Fair-condition bridges (149)

Sort:

Arlington County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Arlington County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,097 vehicle crossings a day

52.5% of Arlington County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 21.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Arlington 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

Fair-condition bridges (149)

BUS AND TAXI ENTRA

BUS AND TAXI ENTRY

GWMP

GWMP

GWMP

I-395 SB

17TH ST.N RAMP

MEMORIAL AVENUE

GWMP

GWMP

GWMP

JEFF DAVIS HIGHWAY

I-395 HOV SBL

VA ROUTE 233

RAMP AA

ROUTE 395_SBL

GWMP (SB)

SOUTH EXIT FROM NA

GLEBE RD.

RAMP "G"

NORTH ROTARY

MEADE ST & LYNN ST

SOUTH GLEBE ROAD

2ND STREET

SMITH BOULEVARD

ROUTE 1

ENT. NAT. AIRPORT

N.DUNBARTON STREET

16TH STREET SOUTH

Custis Mem. Pkwy.

DUMBARTON STREET

I-66

RAMP "H"

PENTAGON RIVER ENT

ROUTE 0123

ROUTE 29

NORTH RHODES ST.

WILSON BLVD.

I-66 RAMP TO US 50

GLEBE ROAD

I-395 HOV NBL

US 50 RAMP

ARLINGTON BLVD.

I-66 RAMP TO GW PK

H.G.SHIRLEY MEM HY

ARLINGTON BLVD.

WASHINGTON BLVD.

ARLINGTON BLVD. EB

CUSTIS MEM. PKWY

WASHINGTON BLVD.

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