County profile · official public datasets

Carroll County, VA

161 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 41.6% rated Good, 57.1% Fair, 1.2% Poor.

161
Public bridges: 41.6%
Good condition: 1.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 28%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.2%
Poor-condition share: 161
public highway bridges: 1971
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.

Carroll County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Carroll County ranks #36 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.2%). Carroll County, Virginia contains 161 public highway bridges. Roughly 41.6% are rated “Good,” 57.1% “Fair,” and 1.2% “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

161

Public highway bridges in Carroll County

Good condition

41.6%

67 of 161 rated 7-9

Fair condition

57.1%

92 of 161 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.2%

2 of 161 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#36 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 161 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

41.6% (67)

Fair

57.1% (92)

Poor

1.2% (2)

Carroll County's Poor-condition bridges carry 125 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 63 crossings a day against 1,365 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 161 of 161 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

50.3% of Carroll County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

81 of the 161 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 41.6% 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 72% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Cross Creek Rd/881 over Little Reed Island Cr #2, built 1941, carries 90 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 125 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

21
1940s

14
1950s

7
1960s

31
1970s

38
1980s

12
1990s

16
2000s

9
2010s

10
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Carroll County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.2% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 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 Carroll County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Wise County	165	24.2%	73.9%	1.8%	1974
Halifax County	161	36%	57.1%	6.8%	1976
Hanover County	161	19.9%	76.4%	3.7%	1975
Carroll County (this page)	161	41.6%	57.1%	1.2%	1971
Mecklenburg County	160	31.3%	63.1%	5.6%	1974
Amherst County	157	38.9%	56.1%	5.1%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (161 bridges here).

Carroll County, IN · 161 bridges
Floyd County, KY · 161 bridges
Greenup County, KY · 161 bridges
Dade County, MO · 161 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1971 here).

Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges

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

All 161 Good 67 Fair 92 Poor 2

All bridges (161)

Sort:

Carroll County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Carroll County's Poor-condition bridges carry 125 vehicle crossings a day

50.3% of Carroll County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 72% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Carroll 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 (161)

Hollowtree Rd./644

SBL Route I-77

NBL Route I-77

Old QuakerRoad/727

WATERBERRY ROAD

CHESTNUT GROVE/695

HIDDEN VALEY RD922

Burkes Ford Rd/628

Elk Horn Road/713

Parkview Drive/913

Stoneman Rd/Rte741

Howlett ST/780

Laurel Fork RD/654

Worrellmemrd. /618

Creekview Dr./726

58 EBL

58 WBL

RTE. 58 BUS.

Birchtree Rd./709

McGhee Rd/Rte 742

LITTLE VINE ROAD

Timber Road/823

CrookedCreekRd/620

AdamsBranchRd./627

DANVILLE PIKE

HUNTERS RIDGE RD

Red Hill Road /674

Duncan Mill Rd/757

Gambetta Rd/793

PoplarCampRd/52

58 WBL BYPASS

FANCY GAP HWY/52

Coal Creek Rd./608

ExcelsiorSchRd/648

FowlersFerryRd/635

Gladesboro Rd./654

Pauls Creek Rd.692

Carrollton Pike/58

Lambsburg Rd./620

Keno Road / 640

LOVELL ROAD/769

GARDNERS MILL RD

Fishlake Rd/687

GardnerMill Rd/703

STABLE ROAD/RT 702

HiddenValleyRd/922

McGhee Rd./742

Danville Pike/58

CommonwealthRd/722

Poplar Hill Rd/662

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