Total bridges
118
Public highway bridges in Lincoln County
County profile · official public datasets
118 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.4% rated Good, 50.8% Fair, 17.8% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Lincoln County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #29 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 17.8%). Lincoln County, West Virginia contains 118 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.4% are rated “Good,” 50.8% “Fair,” and 17.8% “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
118
Public highway bridges in Lincoln County
Good condition
31.4%
37 of 118 rated 7-9
Fair condition
50.8%
60 of 118 rated 5-6
Poor condition
17.8%
21 of 118 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#29 of 55
Among West Virginia counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 118 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 9.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 17.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 518 crossings a day against 513 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 118 of 118 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
14 of the 118 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 31.4% 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.
WV 3 over BEAR FORK, built 1940, carries 2,100 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 10,870 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
118 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1940–1949
6 bridges
1950–1959
2 bridges
1960–1969
2 bridges
1970–1979
14 bridges
1980–1989
37 bridges
1990–1999
23 bridges
2000–2009
18 bridges
2010–2019
13 bridges
2020–2029
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 37 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 31.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1989, 9 years newer than the West Virginia average of 1980.
The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 17.8% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1989 against a peer-group mean of 1977 is 12 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 54 West Virginia counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ritchie County | 127 | 33.9% | 39.4% | 26.8% | 1967 |
| Berkeley County | 119 | 28.6% | 66.4% | 5% | 1986 |
| Pocahontas County | 118 | 23.7% | 55.9% | 20.3% | 1982 |
| Lincoln County (this page) | 118 | 31.4% | 50.8% | 17.8% | 1989 |
| Ohio County | 115 | 17.4% | 55.7% | 27% | 1967 |
| Pendleton County | 114 | 16.7% | 62.3% | 21.1% | 1985 |
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 Lincoln County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Lincoln County, both outside West Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside WV (118 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1989 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: BEAR WALLOW CREEK
0.01 MI NORTH OF CR 52/1, Lincoln, WV
Over: LAUREL FORK
0.01 MI WEST OF CR 42, Lincoln, WV
Over: FOURMILE CREEK
0.04 MI SOUTH OF CR 50, Lincoln, WV
Over: EAST FORK BIG HARTS CK.
0.03 MI SOUTH OF CR 70, Lincoln, WV
Over: LAUREL CREEK
1.49 MI EAST OF CR 7, Lincoln, WV
Over: COBB CREEK
0.02 MI WEST OF CR 5/9, Lincoln, WV
Over: TRACE FORK
0.90 MI NORTH OF CR 5, Lincoln, WV
Over: LAUREL CREEK
0.03 MILES N OF C R 7/6, Lincoln, WV
Over: GUYANDOTTE RIVER
0.05 MI SOUTH OF WV 10, Lincoln, WV
Over: TRACE CREEK
0.50 MI NORTH OF CR 11, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE COAL RIVER
3.71 MI SOUTH OF CR 12, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE COAL RIVER
3.71 MI SOUTH OF CR 12, Lincoln, WV
Over: ELY FORK
0.01 MILES S OF C. R. 5/9, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE HARTS CREEK
0.10 MI SOUTH OF CR 68, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE COAL RIVER
0.05 MI NORTH OF CR 8, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE COAL RIVER
0.05 MI NORTH OF CR 8, Lincoln, WV
Over: ONEMILE CREEK
0.01 MILE SOUTH OF CR 30, Lincoln, WV
Over: MUD RIVER
0.11 MI EAST OF CR 1, Lincoln, WV
Over: MIDDLE FORK MUD RIVER
0.17 MI WEST OF WV 34, Lincoln, WV
Over: GUYANDOTTE RIVER
0.01 MI NORTH OF CR 10/6, Lincoln, WV
Over: GUYANDOTTE RIVER
0.12 MI NORTH OF WV 10, Lincoln, WV
Over: VALLEY FORK
0.51 MI SOUTH OF CR 5/3, Lincoln, WV
Over: GUYANDOTTE RIVER
0.15 MI SOUTH OF CR 19, Lincoln, WV
Over: FOURTEENMILE CREEK
0.07 MILE SOUTH OF WV 37, Lincoln, WV
Over: PARSNER CREEK
0.67 MI SOUTH OF CR 46, Lincoln, WV
Over: BROAD BRANCH
0.01 MILE E. OF CR 15/1, Lincoln, WV
Over: SULPHUR SPRINGS FORK
0.46 MI SOUTH OF WV 37, Lincoln, WV
Over: FRANCES CREEK
0.02 MI EAST OF CR 68/1, Lincoln, WV
Over: BIG HARTS CREEK
0.20 MI SOUTH OF CR 19, Lincoln, WV
Over: TEN MILE CREEK
1.10 MILE SOUTH OF CR 52, Lincoln, WV
Over: HARLESS FORK
0.05 MI SOUTH OF CR 38, Lincoln, WV
Over: TENMILE CREEK
0.01 MILE WEST OF CR 52/1, Lincoln, WV
Over: FUQUAY CREEK
0.75 MI N OF W V 214, Lincoln, WV
Over: SUGAR TREE FORK
0.11 MI SOUTH OF CR 40, Lincoln, WV
Over: LITTLE HARTS CREEK
0.06 MILE SOUTH OF CR 68, Lincoln, WV
Over: NINEMILE CREEK
0.15 MILE WEST OF CR 54, Lincoln, WV
Over: COBB CREEK
0.01 MILE SOUTH OF CR 5/9, Lincoln, WV
Over: TRACE FORK
0.05 MILE SOUTH OF CR 5, Lincoln, WV
Over: HARTS CREEK
0.03 MILE EAST OF CR 19, Lincoln, WV
Over: MUD RIVER
0.10 MI SOUTH OF WV 3, Lincoln, WV
Over: MIDDLE FORK
0.01 MI SOUTH OF WV 3, Lincoln, WV
Over: BIG CREEK
1.05 MI SOUTH OF CR 46, Lincoln, WV
Over: MUD RIVER
0.02 MILE SOUTH OF C R 46, Lincoln, WV
Over: LEFT FORK OF MUD RIVER
0.01 MI WEST OF CR 58/1, Lincoln, WV
Over: MUD RIVER
0.36 MI WEST OF CR 66, Lincoln, WV
Over: TRACE FORK
0.08 MI NORTH OF CR 5/2, Lincoln, WV
Over: FOURMILE CREEK
0.20 MI SOUTH OF CR 11, Lincoln, WV
Over: HAYZLETT FORK
0.26 MI N OF CR 5/8, Lincoln, WV
Over: TRACE CREEK
0.03 MI SOUTH OF CR 9, Lincoln, WV
Over: FOURTEEN MILE CREEK
0.01 MI SOUTH OF CR 10/14, Lincoln, WV
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.