County profile · official public datasets

Hancock County, WV

29 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31% rated Good, 41.4% Fair, 27.6% Poor.

Compiled by PlainBridges

29
Public bridges: 31%
Good condition: 27.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Hancock County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.

52nd
of 55 on Poor share: 27.6%
Poor-condition share: 29
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.

Hancock County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Hancock County ranks #52 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 27.6%). Hancock County, West Virginia contains 29 public highway bridges. Roughly 31% are rated “Good,” 41.4% “Fair,” and 27.6% “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

29

Public highway bridges in Hancock County

Good condition

31%

9 of 29 rated 7-9

Fair condition

41.4%

12 of 29 rated 5-6

Poor condition

27.6%

8 of 29 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#52 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 29 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31% (9)

Fair

41.4% (12)

Poor

27.6% (8)

Hancock County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,120 vehicle crossings a day

That is 15.5% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 27.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,765 crossings a day against 4,940 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 29 of 29 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

37.9% of Hancock County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

11 of the 29 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 31% 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 55.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

West Virginia 2 over Frontier Group of Co.Inc, built 1966, carries 7,800 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 8-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 14,120 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

3
1920s

1
1930s

1
1940s

1
1950s

2
1960s

2
1970s

4
1980s

4
1990s

6
2000s

4

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 6 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1970, 10 years older than the West Virginia average of 1980.

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Hancock County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 27.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1970 against a peer-group mean of 1978 is 8 years older.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Hancock County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Morgan County	55	18.2%	56.4%	25.5%	1961
Calhoun County	49	38.8%	34.7%	26.5%	1970
Jefferson County	45	17.8%	82.2%	0%	1994
Wirt County	42	40.5%	38.1%	21.4%	1986
Hancock County (this page)	29	31%	41.4%	27.6%	1970
Pleasants County	25	36%	40%	24%	1979

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (29 bridges here).

Garden County, NE · 29 bridges
Burke County, ND · 29 bridges
Ceiba County, PR · 29 bridges
Guayama County, PR · 29 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (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 29 Good 9 Fair 12 Poor 8

All bridges (29)

Sort:

GOLDING STREET EXT

Over: Ohio River

0.01 mi. North jct WV 2, Hancock, WV

Built 1905 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 7,500

County Route 7

Over: Hardin Run

0.01 mi. West jct CR 20, Hancock, WV

Built 1915 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 850

County Route 7

Over: Hardin Run

0.01 mi. East jct CR7/3, Hancock, WV

Built 1915 Load: 14.5 t ADT: 900

West Virginia 8

Over: South Fork Tomlinson Run

0.20 Mi. North Jct. CR 24, Hancock, WV

Built 1931 Load: 29.0 t ADT: 3,300

County Route 18

Over: South Fork Creek

0.94 mi. East jct CR 18/1, Hancock, WV

Built 1996 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 550

County Route 2/7

Over: Holbert Run

0.38 mi. East jct WV2, Hancock, WV

Built 1998 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 90

Filmore Street

Over: Hardin Run

0.09 mi. West jct CR 7, Hancock, WV

Built 1998 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 100

West Virginia 2

Over: Clevland Cliff RR & Yard

0.45 mi. South jct WV 105, Hancock, WV

Built 1998 Load: 50.8 t ADT: 7,800

West Virginia 2

Over: Tomlinson Run

0.19 mi. North jct CR66/3, Hancock, WV

Built 1984 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 2,200

County Route 15

Over: Kings Creek

0.06 mi. South jct. CR11, Hancock, WV

Built 2001 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 1,800

4th Street

Over: Middle Run Creek

0.01 mi. West jct CR14, Hancock, WV

Built 2007 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 200

West Virginia 2

Over: Kings Creek

0.06 mi. South jct CR11, Hancock, WV

Built 2006 Load: 76.2 t ADT: 7,400

County Route 14

Over: North Fork Run

0.01 mi. South jct WV8, Hancock, WV

Built 1988 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 200

US Route 30

Over: WV RTE 2 & OHIO RIVER

0.39 mi. West jct WV 2, Hancock, WV

Built 1977 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 12,731

West Virginia 8

Over: Deep Gut Run

0.64 mi. South jct CR3, Hancock, WV

Built 1997 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 1,900

West Virginia 2

Over: Hardin Run

0.60 mi. North jct CR7, Hancock, WV

Built 1985 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 4,000

County Route 11

Over: Kings Creek

0.25 mi. West jct CR11/1, Hancock, WV

Built 2007 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 1,600

US Route 30

Over: RIVER ROAD OHIO RIVER

0.50 mi. West jct WV 2, Hancock, WV

Built 1976 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 4,738

County Route 2/3

Over: South Fork Tomlinson Run

0.20 mi. South jct WV8, Hancock, WV

Built 1988 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 100

US Route 30

Over: RIVER ROAD & OHIO RIVER

0.50 mi. West jct WV 2, Hancock, WV

Built 1976 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 7,993

US Route 30

Over: RIVER ROAD & OHIO RIVER

0.50 mi. West jct WV 2, Hancock, WV

Built 1976 Load: 68.0 t ADT: 11,200

County Route 12

Over: North Fork Tomlinson Run

0.15 mi. East jct CR 10, Hancock, WV

Built 1916 Load: 12.7 t ADT: 300

P&F Route 801

Over: Tomlinson Run

0.22 mi. East jct CR12, Hancock, WV

Built 1952 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 550

County Route 9/4

Over: North Fork Kings Creek

0.03 mi. East jct CR 9/6, Hancock, WV

Built 1963 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 90

West Virginia 8

Over: North Fork Tomlinson Run

0.07 mi. North jct CR 5, Hancock, WV

Built 1926 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 2,500

County Route 11

Over: Kings Creek

0.08 mi. East jct CR 9/9, Hancock, WV

Built 1950 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 1,700

County Route 3

Over: Tomlinson Run

0.01 mi. South jct CR12, Hancock, WV

Built 1947 Load: 29.9 t ADT: 1,100

County Route 11/1

Over: North Fork Kings Creek

0.77 Mi North jct CR 11, Hancock, WV

Built 1990 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 80

West Virginia 2

Over: Frontier Group of Co.Inc

0.38 mi. South jct WV 105, Hancock, WV

Built 1966 Load: 54.4 t ADT: 7,800

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges

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Compiled by PlainBridges, Independent data publisher

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.