County profile · official public datasets

Prince Edward County, VA

82 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.7% rated Good, 51.2% Fair, 6.1% Poor.

82
Public bridges: 42.7%
Good condition: 6.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

97th
of 129 on Poor share: 6.1%
Poor-condition share: 82
public highway bridges: 1978
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.

Prince Edward County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Prince Edward County ranks #97 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.1%). Prince Edward County, Virginia contains 82 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.7% are rated “Good,” 51.2% “Fair,” and 6.1% “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

Public highway bridges in Prince Edward County

Good condition

42.7%

35 of 82 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.2%

42 of 82 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.1%

5 of 82 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#97 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 82 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.7% (35)

Fair

51.2% (42)

Poor

6.1% (5)

Prince Edward County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,352 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,470 crossings a day against 1,196 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 82 of 82 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.2% of Prince Edward County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

33 of the 82 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 42.7% 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 55% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Farmville Road over NS Railroad, built 1950, carries 4,041 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 7,352 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

1
1920s

2
1930s

5
1940s

3
1950s

4
1960s

10
1970s

26
1980s

3
1990s

7
2000s

7
2010s

12
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Prince Edward County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.1% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Prince Edward County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Goochland County	87	13.8%	85.1%	1.1%	1981
Prince Edward County (this page)	82	42.7%	51.2%	6.1%	1978
Warren County	81	34.6%	64.2%	1.2%	1974
Isle of Wight County	80	30%	65%	5%	1979
Lynchburg city County	80	55%	42.5%	2.5%	1977
Madison County	80	28.8%	65%	6.3%	1971

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (82 bridges here).

Murray County, GA · 82 bridges
Gallatin County, IL · 82 bridges
Thomas County, KS · 82 bridges
Nicholas County, KY · 82 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 82 Good 35 Fair 42 Poor 5

Fair-condition bridges (42)

Sort:

Prince Edward County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Prince Edward County's Poor-condition bridges carry 7,352 vehicle crossings a day

40.2% of Prince Edward County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 55% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Prince Edward 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 (42)

Douglas Church Rd.

Sandy River Road

Rice Creek Road

Sandy River Road

Pr.Edward Hwy. EBL

Route 460 Business

Peaks Road

Fourth Street

Pat Henry Hwy EBL

Piney Grove Road

First Rock Road

Darlington Heights

High Street

EBL Route 460

Baker Mtn. Rd.

WBL Route 460

Five Forks Road

Route 460

Rt. 15 (Third St)

WBL Route 460

Route 015 NBL

Route 15 SBL

NBL Route 15

Route 15 SBL Bypas

Zion Hill Road

Levi Road

Route 15SBL/460EBL

County Line Road

Tuggle Road

Route 460 WBL

Rts 15 N & 460 W

Meherrin Road

SBL Route 15

NBL Route 15

Route 360 WBL

Bk Hampden-Sydney

Germantown Road

WBL Route 360

Prince Edward Hwy

Hardtimes Road

Holiday Lake Road

Holly Farms Road

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