County profile · official public datasets

Suffolk city County, VA

132 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 25.8% rated Good, 69.7% Fair, 4.5% Poor.

132
Public bridges: 25.8%
Good condition: 4.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Suffolk city County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

80th
of 129 on Poor share: 4.5%
Poor-condition share: 132
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Suffolk city County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Suffolk city County ranks #80 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.5%). Suffolk city County, Virginia contains 132 public highway bridges. Roughly 25.8% are rated “Good,” 69.7% “Fair,” and 4.5% “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

132

Public highway bridges in Suffolk city County

Good condition

25.8%

34 of 132 rated 7-9

Fair condition

69.7%

92 of 132 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.5%

6 of 132 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#80 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 132 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

25.8% (34)

Fair

69.7% (92)

Poor

4.5% (6)

Suffolk city County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,898 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,483 crossings a day against 4,853 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 132 of 132 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

45.5% of Suffolk city County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

60 of the 132 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 25.8% 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 62.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

Nansemond Parkway over Beamons Mill Pond, built 1920, carries 5,593 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 6-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 8,898 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

2
1930s

4
1940s

4
1950s

7
1960s

16
1970s

35
1980s

13
1990s

23
2000s

14
2010s

9
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1970s, when 35 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 45 to 54 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1981, 7 years newer than the Virginia average of 1974.

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Suffolk city County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.5% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 11 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Suffolk city 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	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 (this page)	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 Suffolk city 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 Suffolk city County, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (132 bridges here).

Kendall County, IL · 132 bridges
Massac County, IL · 132 bridges
Monroe County, IL · 132 bridges
St. Joseph County, MI · 132 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 132 Good 34 Fair 92 Poor 6

Fair-condition bridges (92)

Sort:

Suffolk city County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Suffolk city County's Poor-condition bridges carry 8,898 vehicle crossings a day

45.5% of Suffolk city County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 62.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Suffolk city 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 (92)

Box Elder Road

Pineview Road

Holland Road

HOLLAND ROAD EB

Kingsfork Road

Lake Meade Drive

Gates Run Road

DESERT ROAD

OKELLY DRIVE

Holy Neck Rd.

MINERAL SPRINGS RD

Adams Swamp Road

WHITE MARSH RD.

Cherry Grove Road

Holland Road

Route 58 Bypass

GATES RD.

RURITAN BOULEVARD

Great Mill Highway

SOUTH 6TH STREET

TURLINGTON ROAD

Joshua Lane

Lake Prince Drive

HOLLAND CORNER RD.

CYPRESS CHAPEL RD.

WHALEYVILLE BLVD.

Pitchkettle Road

GODWIN BLVD.

Exeter Drive

Gardner Lane

MURPHYS MILL RD.

Girl Scout Road

Portsmouth Blvd.

Pitchkettle Road

US 13 SBL BY-PASS

EVERTTS ROAD

US 13NBL & BYPASS

ROUTE 58

DESERT ROAD

Old Myrtle Road

ROUTE 0639

WHITE MARSH RD.

Wilroy Road

SR 10 GODWIN BLVD.

GREAT MILL HIGHWAY

College Drive

BRIDGE RD (RT 17S)

S.B.L. RTE. 13

BRIDGE RD (RT 17N)

Carrollton Blvd

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