County profile · official public datasets

Scott County, VA

138 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 20.3% rated Good, 71.7% Fair, 8% Poor.

138
Public bridges: 20.3%
Good condition: 8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Scott 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.

107th
of 129 on Poor share: 8%
Poor-condition share: 138
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.

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Scott County ranks #107 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 8%). Scott County, Virginia contains 138 public highway bridges. Roughly 20.3% are rated “Good,” 71.7% “Fair,” and 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

138

Public highway bridges in Scott County

Good condition

20.3%

28 of 138 rated 7-9

Fair condition

71.7%

99 of 138 rated 5-6

Poor condition

11 of 138 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#107 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 138 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

20.3% (28)

Fair

71.7% (99)

Poor

8% (11)

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 819 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 74 crossings a day against 1,042 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 138 of 138 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

59.4% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

82 of the 138 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 20.3% 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 31.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

CLINCH RIVER HWY over COVE CREEK, built 1957, carries 257 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 11-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 819 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

1
1920s

1
1930s

35
1940s

3
1950s

4
1960s

21
1970s

23
1980s

10
1990s

19
2000s

13
2010s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1930s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 85 to 94 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1968, 6 years older than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Scott County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 8% Poor share is the 6th-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 Scott County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Scott County (this page)	138	20.3%	71.7%	8%	1968
Nelson County	136	37.5%	58.1%	4.4%	1968
Russell County	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 Scott 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 Scott County, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (138 bridges here).

Santa Cruz County, AZ · 138 bridges
Hancock County, IA · 138 bridges
Boone County, KY · 138 bridges
Ralls County, MO · 138 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 138 Good 28 Fair 99 Poor 11

Fair-condition bridges (99)

Sort:

Scott County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Scott County's Poor-condition bridges carry 819 vehicle crossings a day

59.4% of Scott County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 31.4% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Scott 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 (99)

Wayside Meadows Rd

BUNKER RD.

STAGE LANE

Williams Mill View

BUSH MILL RD

Fairview Rd

WATER PLANT RD

Manville Rd.

US HIGHWAY 23 SBL

BRISTOL HWY

BRISTOL HWY

HANGING ROCK PKWY

SNOWFLAKE RD

CLOUD HIGH RD

BRISTOL HWY

LITTLE DUCK RD

Copper Creek Rd

COVE CREEK MINE RD

LURAY RD

ROUTE 0023

US HIGHWAY 23

US HIGHWAY 23

US HIGHWAY 23 NBL

US HIGHWAY 23

US HIGHWAY 23

Bristol Highway

CLINCH RIVER HWY

NEW HURLAND CHURCH

WADLOW GAP HWY

FALLS CREEK RD

Mabe Stanleytown

RYE COVE MEM RD

VETERANS MEM. HWY.

Bush Mill Road

NICKLESVILLE HWY

SINKS RD

COX CHAPEL RD

DUFF-PATT ROAD

23NBL/58WBL/421NBL

23SBL/58EBL/421SBL

OTTERHOUSE RD

MCMURRY HOLLOW RD

NICKELSVILLE HWY

NICKELSVILLE HWY

ROUTE 23 BUSINESS

RYE COVE MEM. ROAD

Mustang St.

Twin Springs Rd

ADDINGTON FRAME RD

FRALEY AVE

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