County profile · official public datasets

Smyth County, VA

190 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 17.9% rated Good, 77.9% Fair, 4.2% Poor.

190
Public bridges: 17.9%
Good condition: 4.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

74th
of 129 on Poor share: 4.2%
Poor-condition share: 190
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.

Smyth County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Smyth County ranks #74 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.2%). Smyth County, Virginia contains 190 public highway bridges. Roughly 17.9% are rated “Good,” 77.9% “Fair,” and 4.2% “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

190

Public highway bridges in Smyth County

Good condition

17.9%

34 of 190 rated 7-9

Fair condition

77.9%

148 of 190 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.2%

8 of 190 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#74 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 190 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

17.9% (34)

Fair

77.9% (148)

Poor

4.2% (8)

Smyth County's Poor-condition bridges carry 36,672 vehicle crossings a day

That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 4,584 crossings a day against 3,766 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 189 of 190 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

60.5% of Smyth County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

115 of the 190 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 17.9% 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 45% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

INTERSTATE 81 NBL over M. FORK HOLSTON RIVER, built 1962, carries 16,486 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 36,672 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1930s

37
1940s

3
1950s

8
1960s

60
1970s

15
1980s

11
1990s

20
2000s

19
2010s

12
2020s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 60 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.6% 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).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Smyth County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.2% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Smyth County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Alleghany County	197	27.9%	68%	4.1%	1966
Montgomery County	196	44.9%	52.6%	2.6%	1975
Smyth County (this page)	190	17.9%	77.9%	4.2%	1970
Chesapeake city County	187	42.8%	51.3%	5.9%	1990
Washington County	186	17.2%	81.7%	1.1%	1968
Arlington County	183	14.8%	81.4%	3.8%	1972

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (190 bridges here).

Clinton County, IL · 190 bridges
Wapello County, IA · 190 bridges
Webster County, IA · 190 bridges
Bienville County, LA · 190 bridges

Similar average build year

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

Hamilton County, OH · avg 1970 · 783 bridges
Yavapai County, AZ · avg 1970 · 543 bridges
Garfield County, OK · avg 1970 · 504 bridges
San Luis Obispo County, CA · avg 1970 · 401 bridges

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

All 190 Good 34 Fair 148 Poor 8

Fair-condition bridges (148)

Sort:

Smyth County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Smyth County's Poor-condition bridges carry 36,672 vehicle crossings a day

60.5% of Smyth County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 45% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Smyth 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 (148)

LAUREL VALLEY RD.

SLAB TOWN RD.

Whitetop Road

INTERSTATE 81(NBL)

INTERSTATE 81(SBL)

BLUE SPRINGS RD.

GOV. PLANT ROAD

PARK BLVD.

CARLOCK CREEK RD.

DOTSON RIDGE ROAD

FOX VALLEY RD.

Highway Sixteen

Windsor Road

VALLEY ROAD

FOX VALLEY ROAD

FLAT RIDGE RD.

WEST CHILHOWIE ST.

Highway 16

N CHURCH ST.

BEAR CREEK RD

LEE HIGHWAY

FLAT RIDGE RD.

RIDGEDALE ROAD

LONG HOLLOW ROAD

LEE HIGHWAY

Lee Highway

Gordondale Rd.

HILER BRIDGE ROAD

SOUTH FORK ROAD

LAUREL VALLEY RD.

LEE HIGHWAY

I-81 SBL RAMP

I-81 NBL RAMP

I-81 NBL OFF RAMP

OLD QUARRY RD.

CAMP ROAD

HAVEN RIDGE ROAD

Bear Creek Rd.

CEDAR BRANCH RD.

WALKER CREEK ROAD

WALKER CREEK ROAD

Lyons Gap Rd.

INTERSTATE 81

OLD STAGE RD.

UPPER POOR VAL RD

WALKERS CREEK RD.

ROUTE 670

Lee Highway

Related