County profile · official public datasets

Chesapeake city County, VA

187 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.8% rated Good, 51.3% Fair, 5.9% Poor.

187
Public bridges: 42.8%
Good condition: 5.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Chesapeake city County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

93rd
of 129 on Poor share: 5.9%
Poor-condition share: 187
public highway bridges: 1990
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.

Chesapeake city County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chesapeake city County ranks #93 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.9%). Chesapeake city County, Virginia contains 187 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.8% are rated “Good,” 51.3% “Fair,” and 5.9% “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

187

Public highway bridges in Chesapeake city County

Good condition

42.8%

80 of 187 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.3%

96 of 187 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.9%

11 of 187 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#93 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 187 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.8% (80)

Fair

51.3% (96)

Poor

5.9% (11)

Chesapeake city County's Poor-condition bridges carry 88,399 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 8,036 crossings a day against 14,730 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 187 of 187 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

19.3% of Chesapeake city County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

36 of the 187 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 42.8% 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 42.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MILITARY HIGHWAY over RTE. 460 & NS RAILWAY, built 1948, carries 37,332 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 88,399 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1930s

4
1940s

2
1950s

1
1960s

20
1970s

18
1980s

40
1990s

46
2000s

25
2010s

28
2020s

3

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 46 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 24.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1990, 16 years newer than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Chesapeake city County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.9% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1990 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 20 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chesapeake city County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Montgomery County	196	44.9%	52.6%	2.6%	1975
Smyth County	190	17.9%	77.9%	4.2%	1970
Chesapeake city County (this page)	187	42.8%	51.3%	5.9%	1990
Washington County	186	17.2%	81.7%	1.1%	1968
Arlington County	183	14.8%	81.4%	3.8%	1972
Wythe County	181	17.7%	79%	3.3%	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 Chesapeake city 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 Chesapeake city County, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (187 bridges here).

Lonoke County, AR · 187 bridges
Huntington County, IN · 187 bridges
Grundy County, MO · 187 bridges
Henry County, TN · 187 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1990 here).

Maricopa County, AZ · avg 1990 · 2,847 bridges
Tarrant County, TX · avg 1990 · 2,617 bridges
Guilford County, NC · avg 1990 · 736 bridges
Brazoria County, TX · avg 1990 · 618 bridges

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

All 187 Good 80 Fair 96 Poor 11

Good-condition bridges (80)

Sort:

Chesapeake city County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chesapeake city County's Poor-condition bridges carry 88,399 vehicle crossings a day

19.3% of Chesapeake city County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 42.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chesapeake city 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

Good-condition bridges (80)

SR 168 NBL

Taylor Rd

SR 168 SBL

Cedar Road

OLD DOCK LANDNG RD

BENEFIT ROAD

IS 64 WBL Ramp H

Benefit Road

BALLAHACK ROAD

SR 168 NBL

SR 168 SBL

Willow Lake Road

Lake Shore Drive

WOODLAKE DRIVE

CAMPOSTELLA ROAD

JOLLIFF ROAD

SR 168 NBL

SR 168 SBL

STATION ROAD

Providence Road

Battlefield Blvd

Saint Brides Road

Battlefield Blvd.

Cedar Road

BENEFIT ROAD

Dominion Boulevard

IS 664 NBL

IS 664 NBL

Gum Road

BELLS MILL ROAD

DOMINION BLVD SBL

DOMINION BLVD NBL

FENTRESS AIRFLD RD

LK DRUMMOND CAUSWY

IS 664 NBL

DOMINION BLVD NBL

BEAVER DAM ROAD

IS 664 SBL

22ND STREET

Blackwater Rd

DOMINION BLVD. SBL

RT.13 MILITARY_HYW

INDIAN CREEK ROAD

Great Bridge Blvd

GEORGE WASH. HWY.

Gum Court

168 Loop E to 17

BENEFIT ROAD

HANBURY ROAD

RAMP K OVER RAMP L

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