County profile · official public datasets

Northumberland County, VA

16 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.3% rated Good, 62.5% Fair, 6.3% Poor.

16
Public bridges
31.3%
Good condition
6.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Northumberland 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.

100th
of 129 on Poor share
6.3%
Poor-condition share
16
public highway bridges
1985
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.

Northumberland County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Northumberland County ranks #100 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.3%). Northumberland County, Virginia contains 16 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.3% are rated “Good,” 62.5% “Fair,” and 6.3% “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

16

Public highway bridges in Northumberland County

Good condition

31.3%

5 of 16 rated 7-9

Fair condition

62.5%

10 of 16 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.3%

1 of 16 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#100 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 16 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
31.3% (5)
Fair
62.5% (10)
Poor
6.3% (1)

Northumberland County's Poor-condition bridges carry 5 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5 crossings a day against 2,150 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 16 of 16 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

31.3% of Northumberland County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

5 of the 16 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 31.3% 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 100% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

GILLIAMS RD. over SWAMP, built 1961, carries 5 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 1-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 5 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Northumberland County's bridges were built

16 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 5 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 11 years newer than the Virginia average of 1974.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Northumberland County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.3% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 11 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Northumberland County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Waynesboro city County 19 5.3%
Buena Vista city County 18 0%
Fredericksburg city County 18 11.1%
Staunton city County 18 0%
Salem city County 17 11.8%
Northumberland County (this page) 16 6.3%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (16 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1985 here).

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

All 16 Good 5 Fair 10 Poor 1

All bridges (16)

BLUFF POINT RD.

Fair

Over: HENRY & BARNES CREEK

0.4M RTE676-0.1M END MAIN, Northumberland, VA

Built 1976 Load: 17.5 t ADT: 118

KNIGHTS RUN RD.

Fair

Over: HEAD OF THE RIVER

0.9M RTE201-0.7M RTE603, Northumberland, VA

Built 1973 Load: 31.0 t ADT: 1,018

BUSH MILL RD.

Fair

Over: BUSH MILL CREEK

1.0M RTE611-0.7M RTE604, Northumberland, VA

Built 1969 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 282

INDIAN VALLEY RD.

Fair

Over: CRABBE MILL

0.7M RTE201-1.9M RTE721, Northumberland, VA

Built 1967 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 482

BALLS NECK RD.

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK

0.3MRTE679 - 0.5 MRTE669_, Northumberland, VA

Built 2017 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 116

JESSIE DUPONT HWY.

Fair

Over: GREAT WICOMICO RIVER

2.8M RTE360-7.4M LANCAS.C, Northumberland, VA

Built 1994 Load: 49.7 t ADT: 5,778

CROSSHILLS RD.

Fair

Over: MILL CREEK (POND OUTLET)

1.3M RTE200-0.1M RTE605, Northumberland, VA

Built 1978 Load: 52.5 t ADT: 125

KISSINGER SPRING R

Fair

Over: KISSINGER MILL

1.0M RTE622-0.5M RTE621, Northumberland, VA

Built 1990 Load: 55.2 t ADT: 138

NORTHUMBERLAND HWY

Fair

Over: HEADLEYS MILL POND

6.0M RTE201-1.0M RTE202, Northumberland, VA

Built 1989 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 8,393

SPRING RD.

Fair

Over: CLARKS MILL POND

1.1M RT360 -0.8M RT629, Northumberland, VA

Built 1979 Load: 56.2 t ADT: 441

GARDYS MILL RD.

Good

Over: GARDYS MILL SPILLWAY

NORTHUM.-WESTMORE.CO.LINE, Northumberland, VA

Built 1986 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 257

FONT HILL RD.

Good

Over: PRESLEY CREEK

1.9M RTE630-0.5M RTE636, Northumberland, VA

Built 1971 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 211

COURTHOUSE ROAD

Good

Over: BUSH MILL CREEK

3.8MLANCAS.C-3.1MRTE360, Northumberland, VA

Built 2019 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 1,890

NORTHUMBERLAND HWY

Good

Over: COAN RIVER

1.8M RTE201-5.3M RTE202, Northumberland, VA

Built 1992 Load: 80.3 t ADT: 4,196

NORTHUMBERLAND HWY

Good

Over: COAN RIVER

1.8M RTE201-5.3M RTE202, Northumberland, VA

Built 1993 Load: 80.3 t ADT: 4,196

GILLIAMS RD.

Poor

Over: SWAMP

1.2M RTE601-0.7M RTE201, Northumberland, VA

Built 1961 Load: 49.4 t ADT: 5

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.