County profile · official public datasets

Pittsylvania County, VA

267 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.8% rated Good, 53.9% Fair, 5.2% Poor.

267
Public bridges: 40.8%
Good condition: 5.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

86th
of 129 on Poor share: 5.2%
Poor-condition share: 267
public highway bridges: 1977
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.

Pittsylvania County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pittsylvania County ranks #86 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.2%). Pittsylvania County, Virginia contains 267 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.8% are rated “Good,” 53.9% “Fair,” and 5.2% “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

267

Public highway bridges in Pittsylvania County

Good condition

40.8%

109 of 267 rated 7-9

Fair condition

53.9%

144 of 267 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.2%

14 of 267 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#86 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 267 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

40.8% (109)

Fair

53.9% (144)

Poor

5.2% (14)

Pittsylvania County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,320 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 880 crossings a day against 1,697 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 267 of 267 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

43.8% of Pittsylvania County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

117 of the 267 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 40.8% 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 57.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Ricky Van Shelton over Reed Creek, built 1952, carries 7,129 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 14-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 12,320 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

49
1940s

5
1950s

20
1960s

23
1970s

33
1980s

35
1990s

28
2000s

30
2010s

33
2020s

9

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 49 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 18.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Pittsylvania County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.2% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 6 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pittsylvania County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Prince William County	303	54.5%	44.2%	1.3%	1989
Rockingham County	288	53.1%	43.8%	3.1%	1972
Buchanan County	283	12%	83.4%	4.6%	1967
Pittsylvania County (this page)	267	40.8%	53.9%	5.2%	1977
Albemarle County	262	34.4%	63.7%	1.9%	1962
Rockbridge County	255	31%	65.5%	3.5%	1964

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (267 bridges here).

Kossuth County, IA · 267 bridges
Polk County, MN · 268 bridges
Jackson County, MS · 268 bridges
Warren County, NJ · 268 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1977 here).

San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges

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

All 267 Good 109 Fair 144 Poor 14

All bridges (267)

Sort:

Pittsylvania County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pittsylvania County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,320 vehicle crossings a day

43.8% of Pittsylvania County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 57.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pittsylvania 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 (267)

Gretna Road

West Sunrise Drive

Water Oak Road

Davis Road

Hubbard Road

Moons Road

Mitchell Road

Strawberry Road

County Road

Hill Creek Road

Martin Road

Johnson Mill Road

Tates Mill Road

Sandy River Road

Sheva Road

Hermosa Road

West Witt Road

Toshes Road

Hinesville Road

Grassland Road

Paisley Road

Tomahawk Mill Road

Main Street

Wyatt Farm Road

Green Tree Road

Straightstone Road

Philpott Road

Calvary Road

Rt 29 SBL Bypass

US 29 Northbound L

Gretna Road

South Boston Road

Irish Road

Yorkshire Drive

Halifax Road

Halifax Road

Cascade Mill Road

Markham Road

Paisley Road

Laniers Road

Route 29 Bus

Gretna Road

Irish Road

Double Creek Road

West Witt Road

Malmaison Road

South Meadows Road

Route 29 Business

Rt 29 Bus NBL&SBL

Moses Mill Road

Related