County profile · official public datasets

Wise County, VA

165 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.2% rated Good, 73.9% Fair, 1.8% Poor.

165
Public bridges: 24.2%
Good condition: 1.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 33%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.8%
Poor-condition share: 165
public highway bridges: 1974
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.

Wise County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wise County ranks #43 of 129 Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.8%). Wise County, Virginia contains 165 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.2% are rated “Good,” 73.9% “Fair,” and 1.8% “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

165

Public highway bridges in Wise County

Good condition

24.2%

40 of 165 rated 7-9

Fair condition

73.9%

122 of 165 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.8%

3 of 165 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#43 of 129

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

Condition distribution

Share of 165 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

24.2% (40)

Fair

73.9% (122)

Poor

1.8% (3)

Wise County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,345 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,115 crossings a day against 2,335 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 165 of 165 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

35.2% of Wise County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

58 of the 165 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 24.2% 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 90% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

BULL RUN ROAD over NS RAILWAY, built 1976, carries 5,711 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 3-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 6,345 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1910s

3
1920s

7
1930s

16
1940s

2
1950s

9
1960s

12
1970s

21
1980s

54
1990s

27
2000s

9
2010s

4
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 54 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 32.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1974) matches the Virginia average (1974).

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

The 5 Virginia counties nearest Wise County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.8% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1974 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 Wise County and the 5 Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Frederick County	168	36.3%	61.3%	2.4%	1973
Wise County (this page)	165	24.2%	73.9%	1.8%	1974
Carroll County	161	41.6%	57.1%	1.2%	1971
Halifax County	161	36%	57.1%	6.8%	1976
Hanover County	161	19.9%	76.4%	3.7%	1975
Mecklenburg County	160	31.3%	63.1%	5.6%	1974

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside VA (165 bridges here).

Cleburne County, AL · 165 bridges
Randolph County, AL · 165 bridges
Plumas County, CA · 165 bridges
Leon County, FL · 165 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside VA (1974 here).

Knox County, TN · avg 1974 · 588 bridges
Summit County, OH · avg 1974 · 563 bridges
Onondaga County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges
Orange County, NY · avg 1974 · 472 bridges

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

All 165 Good 40 Fair 122 Poor 3

All bridges (165)

Sort:

Wise County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Wise County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,345 vehicle crossings a day

35.2% of Wise County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 90% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Wise 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 (165)

WEST NORTON ROAD

EXETER RD.

CANE PATCH ROAD

US23(GILLEY AVE.E)

STONEGA ROAD

BOLD CAMP RD.

INMAN ST.

ROUTE 0023 BUS.

OLDMILL VILLAGE RD

58A EBL

WBL ROUTE 0058

EXETER RD.

PHILLIPS CREEK RD.

DERBY RD.

ROUTE 23B

CLINTWOOD HWY.

23/58AOrbyCantrell

EAST STONE GAP RD.

ORBY CANTRELL HWY.

ORBY CANTRELL HWY.

ROUTE 0058

EXETER RD.

MAIN ST.

N. INMAN ROAD

DERBY ROAD

STONE MTN. RD.

ROUTE 1308

TATE SPRINGS RD.

NORTON-COEBURN RD.

LITTLE TOM RD.

OLD INDIAN CK. RD.

POWELL STREET

LOWER IMBODEN RD.

23/58A

ROUTE 0072

N. INMAN ROAD

STEPHENS ROAD

RIVERVIEW ROAD

DOTSON CREEK ROAD

RUSSELL CREEK RD.

CRANES NEST ROAD

SOUTH FORK RD.

ROUTE 23 NBL

ROUTE 23 SBL

23B SBL / 58A EBL

23B NBL / 58A WBL

ORBY CANTRELL HWY

NORTH FORK RD.

WBL ROUTE 0058

NORTH INMAN ST.

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