County profile · official public datasets

Russell County, VA

136 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 28.7% rated Good, 65.4% Fair, 5.9% Poor.

136
Public bridges: 28.7%
Good condition: 5.9%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Russell County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

94th
of 129 on Poor share: 5.9%
Poor-condition share: 136
public highway bridges: 1968
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.

Russell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Russell County ranks #94 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.9%). Russell County, Virginia contains 136 public highway bridges. Roughly 28.7% are rated “Good,” 65.4% “Fair,” and 5.9% “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

136

Public highway bridges in Russell County

Good condition

28.7%

39 of 136 rated 7-9

Fair condition

65.4%

89 of 136 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.9%

8 of 136 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#94 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 136 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

28.7% (39)

Fair

65.4% (89)

Poor

5.9% (8)

Russell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,286 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 411 crossings a day against 1,546 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 136 of 136 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

55.9% of Russell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

76 of the 136 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 28.7% 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 39.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

DRILL RD. over LEWIS CREEK, built 1960, carries 1,297 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 3,286 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

3
1930s

21
1940s

5
1950s

14
1960s

18
1970s

24
1980s

23
1990s

11
2000s

12
2010s

1
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 24 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 6 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Russell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.9% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1968 against a peer-group mean of 1973 is 5 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Russell County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Scott County	138	20.3%	71.7%	8%	1968
Nelson County	136	37.5%	58.1%	4.4%	1968
Russell County (this page)	136	28.7%	65.4%	5.9%	1968
Henry County	135	25.2%	74.8%	0%	1972
Prince George County	132	6.8%	88.6%	4.5%	1975
Suffolk city County	132	25.8%	69.7%	4.5%	1981

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (136 bridges here).

Bullock County, AL · 136 bridges
Jackson County, AR · 136 bridges
Perry County, IL · 136 bridges
Lincoln County, KY · 136 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1968 here).

Montgomery County, PA · avg 1968 · 828 bridges
San Joaquin County, CA · avg 1968 · 644 bridges
Providence County, RI · avg 1968 · 476 bridges
Imperial County, CA · avg 1968 · 444 bridges

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

All 136 Good 39 Fair 89 Poor 8

All bridges (136)

Sort:

Russell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Russell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 3,286 vehicle crossings a day

55.9% of Russell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 39.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Russell 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 (136)

US HIGHWAY 58

UPPER COPPERCRK RD

KENTS RIDGE RD.

RED BUD HWY.

RED OAK RIDGE ROAD

TRAIN STATION ROAD

MILLER CREEK RD.

KENTS RIDGE RD.

PITTSTON ROAD

MILLER CREEK ROAD

NBL ROUTE 0019

US HIGHWAY 19

MOCCASIN VALLEY RD

CLARKS VALLEY ROAD

FINCASTLE ROAD

NBL ROUTE 0019

SBL ROUTE 0019

JOHN SIMMS HILL RD

ROUTE 19 BUSINESS

US Highway 19

ROUTE 0019 (NBL)

CLINCH MOUNTAIN RD

SANDY RIDGE RD.

NEW GARDEN ROAD

CARTERTON ROAD

CLINCH MTN RD

GRAVEL LICK RD

DRILL ROAD

MILLER CREEK ROAD

HAYTERS GAP ROAD

BUNCH TOWN ROAD

MOCCASIN VALLEY RD

LYNN SPRINGS ROAD

FINNEY ROAD

RIVER ROAD

ELK GARDEN ROAD

GREEN VALLEY ROAD

TOWER ROAD

LEWIS CREEK ROAD

BURGESS CREEK LANE

GRAVEL LICK ROAD

US HIGHWAY 19

U.S. Highway 19

ROCKY FORK RD.

RED OAK RIDGE ROAD

Putman Hwy.

PUTNAM BYPASS

MOLLS CREEK ROAD

MOCCASIN RIDGE RD.

CLINCH MTN ROAD

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