County profile · official public datasets

Tazewell County, VA

204 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 21.6% rated Good, 74% Fair, 4.4% Poor.

204
Public bridges: 21.6%
Good condition: 4.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

76th
of 129 on Poor share: 4.4%
Poor-condition share: 204
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.

Tazewell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Tazewell County ranks #76 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.4%). Tazewell County, Virginia contains 204 public highway bridges. Roughly 21.6% are rated “Good,” 74% “Fair,” and 4.4% “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

204

Public highway bridges in Tazewell County

Good condition

21.6%

44 of 204 rated 7-9

Fair condition

74%

151 of 204 rated 5-6

Poor condition

4.4%

9 of 204 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#76 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 204 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

21.6% (44)

Fair

74% (151)

Poor

4.4% (9)

Tazewell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,927 vehicle crossings a day

That is 2.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,436 crossings a day against 2,292 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 204 of 204 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

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

114 of the 204 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 21.6% 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 20.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

FAIRGROUND ROAD over CLINCH RIVER, built 1923, carries 2,703 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 12,927 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

2
1920s

8
1930s

22
1940s

8
1950s

33
1960s

30
1970s

28
1980s

20
1990s

28
2000s

12
2010s

8
2020s

5

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 33 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1970) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Tazewell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Tazewell County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Bedford County	204	52%	45.1%	2.9%	1967
Roanoke County	204	37.7%	62.3%	0%	1969
Tazewell County (this page)	204	21.6%	74%	4.4%	1970
Botetourt County	202	29.2%	70.8%	0%	1968
Norfolk city County	199	15.6%	84.4%	0%	1979
Alleghany County	197	27.9%	68%	4.1%	1966

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (204 bridges here).

Greene County, AL · 204 bridges
Flathead County, MT · 204 bridges
Pembina County, ND · 204 bridges
Okfuskee County, OK · 204 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 204 Good 44 Fair 151 Poor 9

Fair-condition bridges (151)

Sort:

Tazewell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Tazewell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,927 vehicle crossings a day

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

One structure carries 20.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Tazewell 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 (151)

ROUTE 16

2ND STREET

ROUTE 460

RT 19NBL/460EBL BP

RT 19SBL/460WBL BP

ROUTE 643

RTE 19 SBL

DRY FORK ROAD

MOUNTAIN ROAD

BF Buchanan Hwy

ROUTE 61

ROUTE 662

ROUTE 102

ROUTE 19 (SBL)

19 NBL / 460 EBL

ROUTE 639

CEDAR VALLEY DRIVE

ROUTE 0665

19 SBL / 460 WBL

ROUTE 460

ROUTE 19 SBL

OAK ST.

ROUTE 460 (EBL)

ROUTE 0637

ROUTE 460/67

HILL CREEK RD

ROUTE 460 EBL

MONTROSE ST.

LEATHERWOOD LANE

ROUTE 460 WBL

PLSNT HL CHURCH RD

ROUTE 0627

ROUTE 637

ROUTE 609

ROUTE 16

MIDDLE CREEK RD

ROUTE 669

ROUTE 1103

ROUTE 772

DIAL ROCK ROAD

ROUTE 16

ROUTE 19

ROUTE 614

HILL CREEK RD.

ROUTE 0624

Amanate Road

ROUTE 0624

Horsepen Rd

Exbihit Mine Road

LITTLE VALLEY RD.

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