County profile · official public datasets

Clarke County, VA

38 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 28.9% rated Good, 71.1% Fair, 0% Poor.

38
Public bridges: 28.9%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Clarke County pairs a top-10% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

Top 9%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 38
public highway bridges: 1968
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.

Clarke County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Clarke County ranks #11 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Clarke County, Virginia contains 38 public highway bridges. Roughly 28.9% are rated “Good,” 71.1% “Fair,” and 0% “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 Clarke County

Good condition

28.9%

11 of 38 rated 7-9

Fair condition

71.1%

27 of 38 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 38 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#11 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 38 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

28.9% (11)

Fair

71.1% (27)

Poor

0% (0)

44.7% of Clarke County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

17 of the 38 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 28.9% 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.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

4
1940s

1
1950s

6
1960s

1
1970s

13
1980s

4
1990s

3
2000s

2
2010s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 13 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 34.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 6 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Clarke County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Clarke County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Petersburg city County	41	29.3%	61%	9.8%	1979
Cumberland County	39	59%	38.5%	2.6%	1978
Clarke County (this page)	38	28.9%	71.1%	0%	1968
Essex County	37	21.6%	73%	5.4%	1980
Bristol city County	34	35.3%	50%	14.7%	1954
Harrisonburg city County	34	44.1%	41.2%	14.7%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (38 bridges here).

Peach County, GA · 38 bridges
Chowan County, NC · 38 bridges
Brule County, SD · 38 bridges
Kinney County, TX · 38 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1968 here).

Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges

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

All 38 Good 11 Fair 27 Poor 0

All bridges (38)

Sort:

Clarke County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

44.7% of Clarke County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Clarke 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 (38)

OLD CHARLESTOWN RD

RED GATE RD

TILTHAMMER MILL RD

LORD FAIRFAX HWY-S

LORD FAIRFAX HWY

BRUCETOWN RD

MILLDALE RD

LOCKES MILL RD

BISHOP MEADE RD

JOHN MOSBY HWY-NBL

JOHN MOSBY HWY-NBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-WBL

SENSENY RD

HARRY BYRD HWY-EBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-EBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-EBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-WBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-EBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-WBL

HARRY BYRD HWY-WBL

JOHN MOSBY HWY-SBL

LORD FAIRFAX HWY-N

JOHN MOSBY HWY-SBL

JOHN MOSBY HWY

LORD FAIRFAX HWY

JOHN MARSHALL HWY

SUGAR HILL RD

ROAD "F"

CHRISMORE RD

SAWMILL HILL RD

WADESVILLE RD

WADESVILLE RD

LOCKES MILL RD

SUMMIT POINT RD

CARPERS VALLEY RD

CASTLEMAN RD

WRIGHTS MILL RD

HARRY BYRD HWY

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