County profile · official public datasets

Jefferson County, WV

45 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 17.8% rated Good, 82.2% Fair, 0% Poor.

45
Public bridges: 17.8%
Good condition: 0%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Jefferson County pairs a top-5% lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 2%
lowest Poor share in state: 0%
Poor-condition share: 45
public highway bridges: 1994
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.

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Jefferson County ranks #1 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 0%). Jefferson County, West Virginia contains 45 public highway bridges. Roughly 17.8% are rated “Good,” 82.2% “Fair,” and 0% “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

Public highway bridges in Jefferson County

Good condition

17.8%

8 of 45 rated 7-9

Fair condition

82.2%

37 of 45 rated 5-6

Poor condition

0 of 45 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#1 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 45 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

17.8% (8)

Fair

82.2% (37)

Poor

0% (0)

17.8% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

8 of the 45 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 17.8% 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.

1930s

1
1940s

1
1960s

2
1970s

5
1980s

6
1990s

7
2000s

15
2010s

7
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 15 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 33.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1994, 14 years newer than the West Virginia average of 1980.

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Jefferson County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 0% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1994 against a peer-group mean of 1974 is 20 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Jefferson County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Brooke County	57	22.8%	59.6%	17.5%	1983
Morgan County	55	18.2%	56.4%	25.5%	1961
Calhoun County	49	38.8%	34.7%	26.5%	1970
Jefferson County (this page)	45	17.8%	82.2%	0%	1994
Wirt County	42	40.5%	38.1%	21.4%	1986
Hancock County	29	31%	41.4%	27.6%	1970

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (45 bridges here).

Dawson County, GA · 45 bridges
Miller County, GA · 45 bridges
Twiggs County, GA · 45 bridges
Caribou County, ID · 45 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1994 here).

Denton County, TX · avg 1994 · 991 bridges
St. Charles County, MO · avg 1994 · 417 bridges
Rock County, WI · avg 1994 · 304 bridges
Pitt County, NC · avg 1994 · 228 bridges

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

All 45 Good 8 Fair 37 Poor 0

All bridges (45)

Sort:

Jefferson County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

17.8% of Jefferson County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

How Jefferson 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 (45)

CR 1/1 SLS

WV 9 (X)

WV 9 (X)

CR 28 SLS

WV 09

CR 17/4 (5th Ave.)

SHORELINE ROAD

WV 9 (X)

US 340 T

US 340 T

WV 340 T

CO 9/5 SLS

WV 09 X

WV 09 X

WV 09 (T)

US 340 (T)

CR 25 SLS

CR 25 (SLS)

CR 9/1 SLS

WV 09 X

WV 09 X

CR 25/5 SLS

COUNTY ROAD 38 SLS

WV 09 WEST BOUND

WV 09 EAST BOUND

WV 115

CR 17 SLS

WV 09 T.

WV 09 T

WV 09 X

WV 09 X

WV 09 X

CR 9/99 SLS

WV 09 X

WV 115 (F)

CR 25 (SLS)

CR 31 SLS

C.R. 27 SLS

WV 480 F

WV 480

CR 9/68 SLS

CR 25/14 SLS

CR 9/14 SLS

CR 17/1

CR 340/2

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