County profile · official public datasets

Charlotte County, VA

97 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.1% rated Good, 58.8% Fair, 3.1% Poor.

97
Public bridges: 38.1%
Good condition: 3.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 48%
lowest Poor share in state: 3.1%
Poor-condition share: 97
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Charlotte County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Charlotte County ranks #62 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.1%). Charlotte County, Virginia contains 97 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.1% are rated “Good,” 58.8% “Fair,” and 3.1% “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

Public highway bridges in Charlotte County

Good condition

38.1%

37 of 97 rated 7-9

Fair condition

58.8%

57 of 97 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.1%

3 of 97 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#62 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 97 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

38.1% (37)

Fair

58.8% (57)

Poor

3.1% (3)

Charlotte County's Poor-condition bridges carry 897 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 299 crossings a day against 350 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 97 of 97 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.7% of Charlotte County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

54 of the 97 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 38.1% 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 51.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Jeb Stuart Highway over Staunton River, built 1930, carries 464 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 897 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

1
1930s

17
1940s

1
1950s

6
1960s

24
1970s

8
1980s

10
1990s

11
2000s

10
2010s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Charlotte County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Charlotte County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Spotsylvania County	102	35.3%	64.7%	0%	1980
Culpeper County	99	26.3%	69.7%	4%	1971
Charlotte County (this page)	97	38.1%	58.8%	3.1%	1973
Giles County	96	29.2%	67.7%	3.1%	1967
Page County	96	57.3%	41.7%	1%	1972
Louisa County	93	28%	69.9%	2.2%	1973

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (97 bridges here).

Forsyth County, GA · 97 bridges
Elmore County, ID · 97 bridges
Mason County, KY · 97 bridges
Swift County, MN · 97 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 97 Good 37 Fair 57 Poor 3

All bridges (97)

Sort:

Charlotte County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Charlotte County's Poor-condition bridges carry 897 vehicle crossings a day

55.7% of Charlotte County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 51.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Charlotte 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 (97)

Turnip Creek Road

Wheelers Spring Rd

Hannah Road

Robertson Road

Westview Farm Road

Stockdale Road

Sylvan Hill Road

Maple Road

Jeb Stuart hwy.

Welsh Tract Road

Tollhouse Highway

Thomas Jefferson H

Patrick Henry Hwy

Wards Fk Mill Road

Rolling Hill Road

Cub Ck Church Rd

Aspen Wall Road

Westview Farm Road

Hillcroft Road

Barnes Road

G.Washington Hwy.

Rocky Branch Road

Sylvan Hill Road

Patrick Henry Hwy

McGehee Road

HORSESHOE BEND RD

Drakes Main St

Kings Highway

Smiths Mill Road

Cargillis Creek Rd

Eureka School Road

Red House Road

Robertson Road

Thomas Jefferson H

Sylvan Hill Road

W Spring Hill Road

Patrick Henry Road

Patrick Henry Hwy

Mount Carmel Road

Kings Highway SBL

Virginian Road

Germantown Road

Lunenburg Hwy.

Bethel Road

Bethlehem Road

Patrick Henry Hwy

Hermon Road

County Line Road

Abilene Road

Staunton Hill Road

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