County profile · official public datasets

Boone County, WV

131 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 23.7% rated Good, 60.3% Fair, 16% Poor.

131
Public bridges: 23.7%
Good condition: 16%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

Top 44%
lowest Poor share in state: 16%
Poor-condition share: 131
public highway bridges: 1986
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.

Boone County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Boone County ranks #24 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 16%). Boone County, West Virginia contains 131 public highway bridges. Roughly 23.7% are rated “Good,” 60.3% “Fair,” and 16% “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

131

Public highway bridges in Boone County

Good condition

23.7%

31 of 131 rated 7-9

Fair condition

60.3%

79 of 131 rated 5-6

Poor condition

16%

21 of 131 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#24 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 131 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

23.7% (31)

Fair

60.3% (79)

Poor

16% (21)

Boone County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,682 vehicle crossings a day

That is 16.4% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 16% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,890 crossings a day against 1,102 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 131 of 131 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

19.1% of Boone County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

25 of the 131 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 23.7% 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 27.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 119 NBL over LITTLE COAL RIVER, built 1981, carries 10,900 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 21-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 39,682 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1920s

6
1930s

4
1940s

4
1950s

2
1960s

4
1970s

18
1980s

34
1990s

28
2000s

10
2010s

13
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 34 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 26% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1986, 6 years newer than the West Virginia average of 1980.

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Boone County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 16% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 6 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 54 West Virginia counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Boone County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Mason County	137	32.8%	51.1%	16.1%	1989
Putnam County	135	32.6%	51.9%	15.6%	1987
Hardy County	131	22.1%	69.5%	8.4%	1982
Boone County (this page)	131	23.7%	60.3%	16%	1986
Roane County	130	39.2%	34.6%	26.2%	1976
Ritchie County	127	33.9%	39.4%	26.8%	1967

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (131 bridges here).

Columbia County, AR · 131 bridges
Laurel County, KY · 131 bridges
Franklin County, LA · 131 bridges
Wright County, MO · 131 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1986 here).

El Paso County, TX · avg 1986 · 783 bridges
Caddo County, LA · avg 1986 · 682 bridges
Weld County, CO · avg 1986 · 614 bridges
Polk County, IA · avg 1986 · 545 bridges

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

All 131 Good 31 Fair 79 Poor 21

All bridges (131)

Sort:

Boone County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Boone County's Poor-condition bridges carry 39,682 vehicle crossings a day

19.1% of Boone County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 27.5% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Boone County compares with West 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 (131)

COUNTY RT 8/4

US 119 NORTH

US 119 SOUTH

WV 3

CR 8

CR 3/5 LEFT FK RD

COUNTY ROUTE 3/3

CR 119/02

CR 9/2

WV 85 (F)

CR 01

COUNTY ROUTE 1/2

COUNTY RT 9

WV 3

COUNTY ROUTE 5

CR 008/04

CR 85/9

COUNTY ROUTE 5 SLS

CR 008

CR 119/5

COUNTY ROUTE 5

ROUTE 3/2

CR 26

WV 85

COUNTY ROUTE 3/2

COUNTY ROUTE 79/1

COUNTY RT 22

CR 85/19

COUNTY ROUTE 28/1

WV 85

CR 119/36

CR 17/11

CR 119/37

CR 3/14

WV 94 Lens Ck Rd

CR 3/9

CR 10

WV 85

CO RT 3/35

CR 85/23

COUNTY ROUTE 85/1

WV 3

WV 85

CR 119/9

CR 119/52

CR119/43 BENTLEY

WV 3

WV ROUTE 3

WV 85

WV 3

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