County profile · official public datasets

Grayson County, VA

145 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 16.6% rated Good, 78.6% Fair, 4.8% Poor.

145
Public bridges: 16.6%
Good condition: 4.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Grayson County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

83rd
of 129 on Poor share: 4.8%
Poor-condition share: 145
public highway bridges: 1964
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.

Grayson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Grayson County ranks #83 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.8%). Grayson County, Virginia contains 145 public highway bridges. Roughly 16.6% are rated “Good,” 78.6% “Fair,” and 4.8% “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

145

Public highway bridges in Grayson County

Good condition

16.6%

24 of 145 rated 7-9

Fair condition

78.6%

114 of 145 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.8%

7 of 145 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#83 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 145 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

16.6% (24)

Fair

78.6% (114)

Poor

4.8% (7)

Grayson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,266 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 467 crossings a day against 408 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 145 of 145 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

61.4% of Grayson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

89 of the 145 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 16.6% 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 47.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WILSON HWY over BIG WILSON CREEK, built 1934, carries 1,537 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 7-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,266 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

3
1930s

41
1940s

8
1950s

10
1960s

15
1970s

26
1980s

15
1990s

17
2000s

4
2010s

5
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 41 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 28.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1964, 10 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Grayson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.8% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1964 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 6 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Grayson County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Brunswick County	152	23.7%	69.7%	6.6%	1969
Dinwiddie County	151	9.3%	82.8%	7.9%	1972
Patrick County	145	37.2%	60%	2.8%	1966
Southampton County	145	49%	49%	2.1%	1973
Grayson County (this page)	145	16.6%	78.6%	4.8%	1964
Scott County	138	20.3%	71.7%	8%	1968

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (145 bridges here).

Dearborn County, IN · 145 bridges
Floyd County, IN · 145 bridges
McDonald County, MO · 145 bridges
Lenoir County, NC · 145 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1964 here).

Bergen County, NJ · avg 1964 · 577 bridges
Morris County, NJ · avg 1964 · 508 bridges
Baltimore city County, MD · avg 1964 · 374 bridges
Ross County, OH · avg 1964 · 356 bridges

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

All 145 Good 24 Fair 114 Poor 7

Fair-condition bridges (114)

Sort:

Grayson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Grayson County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,266 vehicle crossings a day

61.4% of Grayson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 47.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Grayson 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 (114)

CHESTNUT GROVE RD

Brush Creek Road

COX CHAPEL RD

MULBERRY LN

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

ROBERTS COVE RD

HOMESTEAD RD

HIGHLANDS PKWY

ROCKHOUSE ROAD

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

Highlands PKWY

HIGHLANDS PKY.

LEAFWOOD RD.

OLD RIVER LN

LAUREL CREEK RD

ELK CREEK PKWY

Skyline Hwy.

RIVERSIDE DRIVE

ROBERTS COVE RD

FOX CREEK RD.

N INDEPENDENCE AVE

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

FOX CREEK RD

FOX CREEK RD.

JEFFERSON HWY

ELK CREEK PKWY

GRAYSON PARKWAY

Grayson Pkwy.

GRAYSON PKWY

GRAYSON PKWY

Skyline Hwy.

SCENIC RD

FAIRWOOD RD.

Snow Hill Rd.

COLD SPRINGS RD

COMERS ROCK ROAD

COMERS ROCK ROAD

COMERS ROCK RD

CARSONVILLE RD

LIBERTY HILL RD.

SPRING VALLEY RD.

ROUTE 0805

SPRING VALLEY RD.

SPRING VALLEY RD.

FULTON RD

GRAYSON PKWY

Grayson Hwy.

Grayson parkway

ROUTE 711

SPRING VALLEY RD.

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