Total bridges
165
Public highway bridges in Wise County
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.
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.
When Wise County's bridges were built
165 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 3
1910–1919
3 bridges
- 1920s 7
1920–1929
7 bridges
- 1930s 16
1930–1939
16 bridges
- 1940s 2
1940–1949
2 bridges
- 1950s 9
1950–1959
9 bridges
- 1960s 12
1960–1969
12 bridges
- 1970s 21
1970–1979
21 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
54 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
27 bridges
- 2000s 9
2000–2009
9 bridges
- 2010s 4
2010–2019
4 bridges
- 2020s 1
2020–2029
1 bridges
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.
| 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.
Fair-condition bridges (122)
Hale Gap Road
FairOver: S FORK POUND RIVER
0.4M To R707;0.2M To R620, Wise, VA
Built 1980 Load: 84.4 t ADT: 453
IMBODEN ROAD
FairOver: PIGEON CREEK
.28MTOENDMAINT.&.0MTO68, Wise, VA
Built 1998 Load: 84.4 t ADT: 87
DORCHESTER ROAD
FairOver: POWELL RIVER
2.36M TO 621&.14M TO 623S, Wise, VA
Built 1965 Load: 85.3 t ADT: 363
TOMS CREEK ROAD
FairOver: TOMS CREEK
2.25M TO 72& 2.14MTO 650, Wise, VA
Built 1980 Load: 86.2 t ADT: 1,989
RODA RD.
FairOver: CALLAHAN CREEK
.2M TO 78 & 1.9M TO 812, Wise, VA
Built 1981 Load: 86.2 t ADT: 499
POWELL RIVER ROAD
FairOver: POWELL RIVER
.40M TO 623N&.10M TO 623S, Wise, VA
Built 1980 Load: 87.1 t ADT: 363
DORCHESTER ROAD
FairOver: POWELL RIVER
0.0M to 774 & 0.0M to 610, Wise, VA
Built 1980 Load: 87.1 t ADT: 1,849
RAT CREEK RD.
FairOver: S FORK POUND RIVER
.07M TO 620 & .13M TO 629, Wise, VA
Built 1983 Load: 88.0 t ADT: 321
LAUREL AVENUE
FairOver: TOMS CREEK @ COEBURN
9.63MTODICK.CO&.45MTO58B., Wise, VA
Built 1927 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 4,268
CALLAHAN AVE.
FairOver: CALLAHAN CREEK
2.72M TO 23&1.03M TO 600, Wise, VA
Built 1952 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 778
STONEGA RD.
FairOver: CALAHAN CREEK
.65MTO78&1.03MTOENDMAINT., Wise, VA
Built 1982 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 340
POWELL VALLEY RD.
FairOver: BUTCHERS FORK
.33M TO 612& 1.07M TO 683, Wise, VA
Built 1986 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 2,680
GUEST RIVER RD.
FairOver: GUEST RIVER
.20M TO 701&4.95M TO 627, Wise, VA
Built 1987 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 511
DOTSON CREEK ROAD
FairOver: DOTSON CREEK
.24M TO 636 & 1.15MTO 645, Wise, VA
Built 1980 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 136
DOTSON CREEK ROAD
FairOver: DOTSON CREEK
.86M TO 645 &.54M TO 636, Wise, VA
Built 1977 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 136
RODA ROAD
FairOver: MUD LICK CREEK #2
.60 TO 812 & 1.50 FR 78, Wise, VA
Built 1997 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 499
MAPLES GAP ROAD
FairOver: S FORK POWELL RIVER
2.59MTOENDMAINT&.01MTO616, Wise, VA
Built 1977 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 99
ROUTE 0023
FairOver: PRIVATE ENTRANCE
.48M TO 58A&.93M TO 23B, Wise, VA
Built 1981 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 19,665
JOSEPHINE ROAD
FairOver: N FORK POWELL RIVER
.14M TO 675&.12M TO 23BUS, Wise, VA
Built 1992 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 896
DRULU ROAD
FairOver: SOUTH FORK POUND RIVER
.05MTO671 &.25MTOENDMAINT, Wise, VA
Built 1998 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 60
CARFAX RD
FairOver: BULL RUN CREEK
0.50FR658;1.03TO DEAD END, Wise, VA
Built 2001 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 379
CARFAX RD
FairOver: BULL RUN CREEK
1.21T0 END MNT; .32TO 658, Wise, VA
Built 2001 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 379
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.