County profile · official public datasets

Orange County, VA

71 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 26.8% rated Good, 70.4% Fair, 2.8% Poor.

71
Public bridges
26.8%
Good condition
2.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Orange County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.

Top 46%
lowest Poor share in state
2.8%
Poor-condition share
71
public highway bridges
1970
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.

Orange County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Orange County ranks #59 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 2.8%). Orange County, Virginia contains 71 public highway bridges. Roughly 26.8% are rated “Good,” 70.4% “Fair,” and 2.8% “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

71

Public highway bridges in Orange County

Good condition

26.8%

19 of 71 rated 7-9

Fair condition

70.4%

50 of 71 rated 5-6

Poor condition

2.8%

2 of 71 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#59 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 71 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
26.8% (19)
Fair
70.4% (50)
Poor
2.8% (2)

Orange County's Poor-condition bridges carry 2,084 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 2.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,042 crossings a day against 2,156 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 71 of 71 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

67.6% of Orange County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

48 of the 71 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 26.8% 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 94% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Flat Run Road over Flat Run, built 1993, carries 1,960 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 2,084 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Orange County's bridges were built

71 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 17 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 23.9% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Orange County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 2.8% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1969 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Orange County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Dickenson County 76 1.3%
Bath County 73 6.8%
Buckingham County 72 2.8%
Orange County (this page) 71 2.8%
Appomattox County 68 1.5%
Nottoway County 67 4.5%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (71 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1970 here).

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

All 71 Good 19 Fair 50 Poor 2

Good-condition bridges (19)

Constitution Hwy.

Good

Over: Laurel Run

.45 From 635 & .32 To 675, Orange, VA

Built 1995 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,953

Constitution Hwy

Good

Over: Branch

.50 From 639 &1.23 To 231, Orange, VA

Built 1960 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,953

Clarks Mountain Rd

Good

Over: Branch of Rapidan River

.02 From 636 & .38 To 615, Orange, VA

Built 1930 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 562

Ridge Road

Good

Over: Marsh Run

.45 From 609 &1.43 To 655, Orange, VA

Built 1965 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 928

Lovers Lane

Good

Over: South Anna River

.03 From 33&.57 To Alb Co, Orange, VA

Built 1985 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 396

Jacksontown Road

Good

Over: Hen & Bacon Run

.27 From 231 &1.03 To 746, Orange, VA

Built 2004 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 149

Cox Mill Road

Good

Over: Wolftrap Branch

3.53 From 690&1.71 To 639, Orange, VA

Built 2016 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 339

Brick Church Road

Good

Over: Church Run

1.25 From 629 &.15 To 612, Orange, VA

Built 2000 Load: 38.1 t ADT: 625

Raccoon Ford Road

Good

Over: Mountain Run

.50 From 672 & .60 To 620, Orange, VA

Built 1983 Load: 44.5 t ADT: 423

Madison Run Road

Good

Over: Madison Run

.04 From 647 & .36 To 642, Orange, VA

Built 1969 Load: 47.2 t ADT: 753

St Just Road

Good

Over: Terrys Run

1.80 From 651 &.40 To 660, Orange, VA

Built 1960 Load: 49.0 t ADT: 533

Thornhill Road

Good

Over: Pamunkey Creek

1.25 From 522&1.05 To 612, Orange, VA

Built 1970 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 649

Old Barbrville Rd

Good

Over: Branch of Blue Run

.24 From 20 & .76 To 33, Orange, VA

Built 1926 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 151

GREENWOOD ROAD

Good

Over: NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILWAY

0.35 Fr 20 & 0.55 To DE, Orange, VA

Built 2021 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 84

Independence Road

Good

Over: Riga Run

2.40 From 624 &.80 TO 522, Orange, VA

Built 1971 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 792

EBL PLANK RD.

Good

Over: WILDERNESS RUN

SPOTSY.-ORANGE CO. LINE, Orange, VA

Built 1994 Load: 66.2 t ADT: 18,051

Mountain Track Rd

Good

Over: Beaver Creek

1.30 From 612&4.10 To 643, Orange, VA

Built 1995 Load: 67.1 t ADT: 299

Burr Hill Road

Good

Over: Walnut Run

1.22 From 640 &.10 To 611, Orange, VA

Built 1990 Load: 77.1 t ADT: 355

James Madison Hwy.

Good

Over: Rapidan River

Madison/Orange Co. Line, Orange, VA

Built 1991 Load: 84.4 t ADT: 7,978

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

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →
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.