County profile · official public datasets

Hanover County, VA

161 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 19.9% rated Good, 76.4% Fair, 3.7% Poor.

161
Public bridges: 19.9%
Good condition: 3.7%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Hanover County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

69th
of 129 on Poor share: 3.7%
Poor-condition share: 161
public highway bridges: 1975
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.

Hanover County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hanover County ranks #69 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 3.7%). Hanover County, Virginia contains 161 public highway bridges. Roughly 19.9% are rated “Good,” 76.4% “Fair,” and 3.7% “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

161

Public highway bridges in Hanover County

Good condition

19.9%

32 of 161 rated 7-9

Fair condition

76.4%

123 of 161 rated 5-6

Poor condition

3.7%

6 of 161 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#69 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 161 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

19.9% (32)

Fair

76.4% (123)

Poor

3.7% (6)

Hanover County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,773 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 3.7% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,296 crossings a day against 4,755 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 161 of 161 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

72 of the 161 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 19.9% 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.

One structure carries 24.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

MOUNT HERMON ROAD over CAMPBELLS CREEK, built 1971, carries 1,929 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,773 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

4
1920s

5
1930s

4
1940s

7
1950s

12
1960s

28
1970s

47
1980s

11
1990s

11
2000s

19
2010s

12
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 47 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 29.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1975) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Hanover County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 3.7% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1975 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 Hanover County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Wise County	165	24.2%	73.9%	1.8%	1974
Carroll County	161	41.6%	57.1%	1.2%	1971
Halifax County	161	36%	57.1%	6.8%	1976
Hanover County (this page)	161	19.9%	76.4%	3.7%	1975
Mecklenburg County	160	31.3%	63.1%	5.6%	1974
Amherst County	157	38.9%	56.1%	5.1%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (161 bridges here).

Carroll County, IN · 161 bridges
Floyd County, KY · 161 bridges
Greenup County, KY · 161 bridges
Dade County, MO · 161 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1975 here).

San Bernardino County, CA · avg 1975 · 1,422 bridges
Lane County, OR · avg 1975 · 1,010 bridges
Fulton County, GA · avg 1975 · 775 bridges
Westmoreland County, PA · avg 1975 · 620 bridges

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

All 161 Good 32 Fair 123 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (123)

Sort:

Hanover County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Hanover County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,773 vehicle crossings a day

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

One structure carries 24.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Hanover 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 (123)

ROCKETTS MILL ROAD

MOUNTAIN ROAD

WBL ROUTE 0360

NEW MARKET MILL RD

ROUTE 95 RAMP D1

COLD HARBOR ROAD

SHILOH CHURCH ROAD

ROUTE 656 RAMP A2

RAMP G I-295

WASHINGTON HIGHWAY

NBL ROUTE 0295

NBL I-95

SBL I-95

CANTERBURY ROAD

NBL I-95

SBL I-95

OLD RIDGE ROAD

SBL I-95

EBL KINGS DOMINION

KINGS ACRE ROAD

HICKORY HILL ROAD

RELOCATED RTE 656

KINGS DOMINION BVD

EBL MOUNTAIN ROAD

HOWARDS MILL ROAD

SBL ROUTE 0295

SHADY GROVE ROAD

ROUTE 0295(SBL)

HANOVER COURTHOUSE

BELL CREEK ROAD

GREENWOOD CHURCH

CHAMBERLAYNE NBL

HEWLETT ROAD

RAMP A I-295

KINGS DOMINION BVD

RURAL POINT ROAD

TEMAN ROAD

NBL ROUTE 0295

SBL ROUTE 0295

WBL ROUTE 0295

POLE GREEN ROAD

OLD RIDGE ROAD

BLUNTS BRIDGE ROAD

GEORGETOWN ROAD

COLD HARBOR ROAD

I-295 SBL

CHAMBERLAYNE SBL

DUNNS CHAPEL ROAD

ROUTE 656 RAMP D2

ATLEE ROAD

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