Total bridges
204
Public highway bridges in Bedford County
County profile · official public datasets
204 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 52% rated Good, 45.1% Fair, 2.9% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Bedford County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Bedford County ranks #61 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.9%). Bedford County, Virginia contains 204 public highway bridges. Roughly 52% are rated “Good,” 45.1% “Fair,” and 2.9% “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
204
Public highway bridges in Bedford County
Good condition
52%
106 of 204 rated 7-9
Fair condition
45.1%
92 of 204 rated 5-6
Poor condition
2.9%
6 of 204 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#61 of 129
Among Virginia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 204 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 202 crossings a day against 1,443 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 204 of 204 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
116 of the 204 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 52% 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.
Village Dr 1460 over Br of Beaver Dam Ck, built 1985, carries 521 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 1,210 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
204 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1900–1909
1 bridges
1910–1919
1 bridges
1920–1929
1 bridges
1930–1939
64 bridges
1940–1949
5 bridges
1950–1959
10 bridges
1960–1969
19 bridges
1970–1979
27 bridges
1980–1989
16 bridges
1990–1999
29 bridges
2000–2009
9 bridges
2010–2019
14 bridges
2020–2029
8 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 64 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1967, 7 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.
The 5 Virginia counties nearest Bedford County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.9% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1967 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 128 Virginia counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke County | 204 | 37.7% | 62.3% | 0% | 1969 |
| Tazewell County | 204 | 21.6% | 74% | 4.4% | 1970 |
| Bedford County (this page) | 204 | 52% | 45.1% | 2.9% | 1967 |
| Botetourt County | 202 | 29.2% | 70.8% | 0% | 1968 |
| Norfolk city County | 199 | 15.6% | 84.4% | 0% | 1979 |
| Alleghany County | 197 | 27.9% | 68% | 4.1% | 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 Bedford County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Bedford County, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside VA (204 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1967 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: S. Fork Goose Creek
2.55 Rt 802; 0.05 Rt 460, Bedford, VA
Over: Branch of Wolf Creek
2.70 Rt 691; 0.30 Rt 681, Bedford, VA
Over: Falling Creek
1.50 Rt 634; 1.50 Rt 757, Bedford, VA
Over: Fiddlers Creek
1.30-RT 744;0.70-RT 746, Bedford, VA
Over: S.F. Goose Creek
0.40-RT 221; 0.65-RT 882, Bedford, VA
Over: Orrix Creek
1.68-Rte 626;0.82-Rte 24, Bedford, VA
Over: Falling Creek
2.40 Rt 715; 1.60 Rt 808, Bedford, VA
Over: Gunstock Creek
2.50 Rt 764; 0.60 Rt 639, Bedford, VA
Over: GOOSE CREEK
1.35 RT 755 & 2.55 RT 684, Bedford, VA
Over: 460 & 122 Bypass
0.16 Bedfrd; 1.00 Rt 460, Bedford, VA
Over: Norfolk Southern Railway
2.50 Lychbg; 1.60 Rt 811, Bedford, VA
Over: Lick Run
4.05 RT 460; 0.55 RT 709, Bedford, VA
Over: NS RAILWAY #2
0.28 RT 620; 1.00 RT 811, Bedford, VA
Over: Cove Creek
0.98 Rt 501; 0.02-Rt 657, Bedford, VA
Over: CRAB ORCHARD CREEK
1.25 RT 731; 0.45 RT 626, Bedford, VA
Over: BATTERY CREEK
1.8 NW ST RTE 602, Bedford, VA
Over: N&W Railway
0.90 RT 660; 0.15 RT 221, Bedford, VA
Over: NS RAILWAY
0.35 RT 806; 0.10 RT 608, Bedford, VA
Over: Goose Creek
0.00 Rt 691; 0.80 Rt 460, Bedford, VA
Over: Howards Mill Creek
1.00 Lychbg; 0.50 Rt 660, Bedford, VA
Over: Jumping Run
0.70 RT 655; 0.78 RT 757, Bedford, VA
Over: Reed Creek
0.70 RT 122; 0.00 RT 640, Bedford, VA
Over: Stony Creek
2.18 Rt 850; 0.02 Rt 766, Bedford, VA
Over: Sheep Creek
0.55-RT 688;0.05-RT 680, Bedford, VA
Over: Carter Mill Creek
0.15-RTE 732;2.45-RTE 608, Bedford, VA
Over: Stony Fork
0.65 Rt 616; 0.25 Rt 608, Bedford, VA
Over: Mooman Creek
1.0 RTE746;1.1 RTE747, Bedford, VA
Over: ORRIX CREEK
1.15 RT 24; 1.45 RT 626, Bedford, VA
Over: SHOCKOE CREEK
0.30 Rt 754; 1.20 Rt 691, Bedford, VA
Over: SHOULDER RUN
2.00 RT 24; 0.90 RT 608, Bedford, VA
Over: Gladdy Branch
1.65-RT 732;0.45-RT 727, Bedford, VA
Over: LITTLE OTTER RIVER
1.7 Rt 825; .60 Rt 715, Bedford, VA
Over: Ivy Creek
0.40?Rt 1240;0.25?Rt 884, Bedford, VA
Over: Stony Fork
1.90 Rt 655; 1.50 Rt 608, Bedford, VA
Over: Rockcastle Creek
0.60 Rt 737; 0.70 Rt 738, Bedford, VA
Over: Elk Creek
0.25 Rt 705; 2.10 Rt 762, Bedford, VA
Over: Sycamore Creek
0.80 Rt 644; 0.29 Rt 669, Bedford, VA
Over: Big Otter River
2.69 Bdfd; 0.00 Rte 682S, Bedford, VA
Over: Goose Creek
1.00-Rte 753;0.80-Rte 691, Bedford, VA
Over: Bore Auger Creek
1.00-Rt 616; 1.70-Rt 754, Bedford, VA
Over: N & S RAILROAD
0.10Rte. 762N.;0.01Rte.76, Bedford, VA
Over: NS RAILWAY
1.0 rte 671; 0.7 rte 786, Bedford, VA
Over: Goose Creek
0.85 Rt 691 0.45 Rt 690, Bedford, VA
Over: Creasey Mill Creek
0.60 Rt 722; 0.80 Rt 735, Bedford, VA
Over: Roanoke River
0.00 Frank.; 0.00 Bed. CL, Bedford, VA
Over: Big Otter River
0.01-Rte 673;0.50-Rte 675, Bedford, VA
Over: Oslin Creek
0.00 Rt 637; 0.00 Rt 639, Bedford, VA
Over: Elk Creek
0.20 Rt 460; 2.32 Rt 668, Bedford, VA
Over: Elk Creek
0.00-RT665W; 0.01-RT665E, Bedford, VA
Over: Goose Creek
1.98-Rt 24/6.83 Frnkln CL, Bedford, VA
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.