County profile · official public datasets

Caroline County, VA

107 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 22.4% rated Good, 72.9% Fair, 4.7% Poor.

107
Public bridges: 22.4%
Good condition: 4.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

82nd
of 129 on Poor share: 4.7%
Poor-condition share: 107
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Caroline County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Caroline County ranks #82 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.7%). Caroline County, Virginia contains 107 public highway bridges. Roughly 22.4% are rated “Good,” 72.9% “Fair,” and 4.7% “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

107

Public highway bridges in Caroline County

Good condition

22.4%

24 of 107 rated 7-9

Fair condition

72.9%

78 of 107 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.7%

5 of 107 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#82 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 107 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

22.4% (24)

Fair

72.9% (78)

Poor

4.7% (5)

Caroline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,688 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,338 crossings a day against 1,334 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 107 of 107 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

61.7% of Caroline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

66 of the 107 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 22.4% 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 82.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

ROGERS-CLARK EBL over MATTAPONI RIVER, built 1973, carries 5,501 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 6,688 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

5
1930s

4
1950s

8
1960s

34
1970s

15
1980s

9
1990s

7
2000s

4
2010s

14
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Caroline County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.7% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Caroline County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Floyd County	115	47%	53%	0%	1965
Stafford County	112	38.4%	59.8%	1.8%	1987
Caroline County (this page)	107	22.4%	72.9%	4.7%	1975
Pulaski County	105	30.5%	66.7%	2.9%	1965
Sussex County	105	13.3%	86.7%	0%	1973
Spotsylvania County	102	35.3%	64.7%	0%	1980

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (107 bridges here).

Fannin County, GA · 107 bridges
Habersham County, GA · 107 bridges
Ware County, GA · 107 bridges
Magoffin County, KY · 107 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 107 Good 24 Fair 78 Poor 5

All bridges (107)

Sort:

Caroline County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Caroline County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,688 vehicle crossings a day

61.7% of Caroline County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 82.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Caroline 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 (107)

NORTH RANGE ROAD

PAIGE RD.

RICHMOND TPK.

BYRDS MILL RD.

RUTHER GLEN RD

REEDY MILL RD.

SBL ROUTE 0301

NBL TIDEWATER TRL.

WARE CREEK RD.

WBL ROUTE 0207

TIDEWATER TRAIL

WOODFORD RD.

HEWLETT RD.

CEDON RD. RTE 632

LADYSMITH RD.

SPARTA RD.

EBL ROUTE 0207

ROGERS-CLARK EBL

FREDERICKSBURG TPK

COUNTYLINE CH. RD.

GOLANSVILLE RD.

EBL ROGERSCLARK RD

BURRUSS LANE

NBL ROUTE 0095

SBL ROUTE 0095

SBL A.P HILL BLVD.

NBL A.P. HILL BLVD

SOUTH RANGE RD

K ROAD

WBL BOW. GREEN BYP

PERRIN ROAD

COURSE ROAD 3

CLIFTON RD.

GOLANSVILLE RD

BURMA ROAD

BULL CHURCH RD.

GREGORY ROAD

BAGBY RD.

FROG LEVEL ROAD

Sign Board Rd.

ROGERS-CLARK WBL

SUNSHINE ROAD

STONEWALL JACK. RD

WRIGHTSVILLE RD.

NELSON HILL RD.

DODGE CITY ROAD

NORTH RANGE ROAD

ROGERS-CLARK WBL

PENOLA RD.

COOL WATER DRIVE

Related