County profile · official public datasets

Chesterfield County, VA

322 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.8% rated Good, 76.7% Fair, 2.5% Poor.

322
Public bridges: 20.8%
Good condition: 2.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 40%
lowest Poor share in state: 2.5%
Poor-condition share: 322
public highway bridges: 1984
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.

Chesterfield County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Chesterfield County ranks #52 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.5%). Chesterfield County, Virginia contains 322 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.8% are rated “Good,” 76.7% “Fair,” and 2.5% “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

322

Public highway bridges in Chesterfield County

Good condition

20.8%

67 of 322 rated 7-9

Fair condition

76.7%

247 of 322 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.5%

8 of 322 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#52 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 322 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

20.8% (67)

Fair

76.7% (247)

Poor

2.5% (8)

Chesterfield County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,498 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 7,187 crossings a day against 12,096 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 322 of 322 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

28.9% of Chesterfield County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

93 of the 322 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 20.8% 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 26.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

JEFF DAVIS HIGHWAY over ASHTON CREEK, built 1928, carries 15,315 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 57,498 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

4
1930s

4
1940s

6
1950s

39
1960s

19
1970s

42
1980s

70
1990s

64
2000s

43
2010s

18
2020s

12

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 70 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1984, 10 years newer than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Chesterfield County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1984 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 9 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Chesterfield County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Augusta County	357	34.7%	62.5%	2.8%	1969
Henrico County	352	15.6%	80.1%	4.3%	1978
Chesterfield County (this page)	322	20.8%	76.7%	2.5%	1984
Prince William County	303	54.5%	44.2%	1.3%	1989
Rockingham County	288	53.1%	43.8%	3.1%	1972
Buchanan County	283	12%	83.4%	4.6%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (322 bridges here).

White County, AR · 322 bridges
Lafayette County, LA · 322 bridges
Christian County, IL · 321 bridges
Jackson County, IN · 321 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1984 here).

Hennepin County, MN · avg 1984 · 936 bridges
Duval County, FL · avg 1984 · 831 bridges
El Paso County, CO · avg 1984 · 686 bridges
Bell County, TX · avg 1984 · 660 bridges

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

All 322 Good 67 Fair 247 Poor 8

Fair-condition bridges (247)

Sort:

Chesterfield County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Chesterfield County's Poor-condition bridges carry 57,498 vehicle crossings a day

28.9% of Chesterfield County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 26.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Chesterfield 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

Fair-condition bridges (247)

SBL ROUTE 295

ROUTE 150 SBL

WEST PROVIDENCE RD

ROUTE 76 EBL

CHESTER ROAD

ROUTE 288 SBL

ROUTE 288 NBL

INTERSTATE 295 EBL

ROUTE 76 EBL

NBL JEFF DAVIS HWY

NBL ROUTE 0295

I-95 RAMPS A&C

UPSHUR DRIVE

NBL I295

ROUTE 288 SBL

COURTHOUSE ROAD

HULL STREET RD WBL

ROUTE 76

JEFFERSON DAVIS HW

SALEM CHURCH ROAD

MIDLOTHN TRNPK WBL

BELMONT ROAD

ROUTE 288 NBL

INTERSTATE 295 WBL

IRONBRIDGE ROAD

POWHITE PARKWAY

POWHITE PARKWAY

POWHITE PARKWAY

POWHITE PKWY NBL

POWHITE PRKWAY SBL

INTERSTATE 95

INTERSTATE-95

CHESTER ROAD

ROUTE 288 NBL

Route 288 SBL

Route 288

ROUTE 288

ROUTE 288

ROUTE 288

ROUTE 288

ROUTE 288

INT-295 RP-B; LP-B

INTERSTATE-295

BELMONT ROAD

NASH ROAD

ROUTE 288 & RAMPS

HIGHLAND GLEN DRVE

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