County profile · official public datasets

Marshall County, WV

85 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 31.8% rated Good, 38.8% Fair, 29.4% Poor.

85
Public bridges: 31.8%
Good condition: 29.4%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Marshall County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.

53rd
of 55 on Poor share: 29.4%
Poor-condition share: 85
public highway bridges: 1978
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.

Marshall County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Marshall County ranks #53 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 29.4%). Marshall County, West Virginia contains 85 public highway bridges. Roughly 31.8% are rated “Good,” 38.8% “Fair,” and 29.4% “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 Marshall County

Good condition

31.8%

27 of 85 rated 7-9

Fair condition

38.8%

33 of 85 rated 5-6

Poor condition

29.4%

25 of 85 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#53 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 85 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

31.8% (27)

Fair

38.8% (33)

Poor

29.4% (25)

Marshall County's Poor-condition bridges carry 28,010 vehicle crossings a day

That is 16.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 29.4% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,120 crossings a day against 1,760 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 85 of 85 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

42.4% of Marshall County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

36 of the 85 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 31.8% 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.

One structure carries 32.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

West Virginia 2 over Big Grave Creek, built 1973, carries 9,200 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 25-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 28,010 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

8
1930s

4
1940s

3
1950s

5
1960s

12
1970s

6
1980s

10
1990s

13
2000s

7
2010s

15
2020s

1

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 15 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1978) matches the West Virginia average (1980).

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Marshall County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 29.4% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1978 against a peer-group mean of 1976 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Marshall County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Grant County	97	21.6%	64.9%	13.4%	1980
Barbour County	93	12.9%	72%	15.1%	1957
Hampshire County	92	23.9%	65.2%	10.9%	1978
Clay County	87	32.2%	54%	13.8%	1987
Marshall County (this page)	85	31.8%	38.8%	29.4%	1978
Webster County	82	26.8%	58.5%	14.6%	1978

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (85 bridges here).

Monroe County, AR · 85 bridges
Elbert County, CO · 85 bridges
Hardee County, FL · 85 bridges
Early County, GA · 85 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1978 here).

Orange County, CA · avg 1978 · 1,164 bridges
Sumner County, KS · avg 1978 · 659 bridges
Allen County, IN · avg 1978 · 613 bridges
Livingston County, IL · avg 1978 · 579 bridges

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

All 85 Good 27 Fair 33 Poor 25

Fair-condition bridges (33)

Sort:

Marshall County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Marshall County's Poor-condition bridges carry 28,010 vehicle crossings a day

42.4% of Marshall County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 32.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Marshall 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

Fair-condition bridges (33)

County Route 1

County Route 98/3

County Route 74

County Route 74

County Route 17/3

Ash Avenue

County Route 2/7

County Route 74

County Route 10

County Route 5

WV 2 SPUR

Roosevelt Avenue

US 250 off Ramp H

County Route 21

County Route 27

US 250

US Route 250

County Route 21

County Route 5

County Route 89

County Route 88/25

City Street

County Route 74

County Route 36

US 250

County Route 15/3

West Virginia 2

County Route 34/18

County Route 17

County Route 54

COUNTY ROUTE 60

West Virginia 2

West Virginia 2

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