County profile · official public datasets

McDowell County, WV

225 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 4% rated Good, 64.4% Fair, 31.6% Poor.

225
Public bridges: 4%
Good condition: 31.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

54th
of 55 on Poor share: 31.6%
Poor-condition share: 225
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

McDowell County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, McDowell County ranks #54 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 31.6%). McDowell County, West Virginia contains 225 public highway bridges. Roughly 4% are rated “Good,” 64.4% “Fair,” and 31.6% “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

225

Public highway bridges in McDowell County

Good condition

9 of 225 rated 7-9

Fair condition

64.4%

145 of 225 rated 5-6

Poor condition

31.6%

71 of 225 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#54 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 225 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

4% (9)

Fair

64.4% (145)

Poor

31.6% (71)

McDowell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 36,110 vehicle crossings a day

That is 26.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 31.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 516 crossings a day against 507 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 224 of 225 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

28% of McDowell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

63 of the 225 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 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.

One structure carries 14.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WV 16 over BROWNS CREEK, built 1999, carries 5,300 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 71-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 36,110 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

2
1910s

10
1920s

6
1930s

19
1940s

11
1950s

6
1960s

7
1970s

19
1980s

24
1990s

50
2000s

44
2010s

17
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the West Virginia average (1980).

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest McDowell County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 31.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1983 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 McDowell County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Logan County	236	23.7%	52.5%	23.7%	1989
McDowell County (this page)	225	4%	64.4%	31.6%	1981
Raleigh County	224	4.9%	70.5%	24.6%	1983
Fayette County	211	19%	67.8%	13.3%	1982
Cabell County	207	25.1%	57.5%	17.4%	1984
Greenbrier County	207	22.7%	64.3%	13%	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 McDowell 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 McDowell County, both outside West Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (225 bridges here).

Dallas County, AL · 225 bridges
Madison County, IA · 225 bridges
Mahaska County, IA · 225 bridges
Lincoln County, KS · 225 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 225 Good 9 Fair 145 Poor 71

All bridges (225)

Sort:

McDowell County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

McDowell County's Poor-condition bridges carry 36,110 vehicle crossings a day

28% of McDowell County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 14.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How McDowell 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 (225)

COUNTY ROUTE 1/2

County Route 7/13

CR 52/8

COUNTY ROUTE 6/5

CR 161/3

CR 13

COUNTY ROUTE 52/6

HA 901/21

CR 102/1

COUNTY ROUTE 12/4

COUNTY ROUTE 8

COUNTY ROUTE 9

CO 16/39

COUNTY ROUTE 83/13

COUNTY ROUTE 17/16

CO 102/51

CR 8/2

CO 17/13

CO 17/5

COUNTY ROUTE 13

COUNTY ROUTE 17/12

COUNTY ROUTE 17

CR 52/20

CR 13/3

CR 103/5

US 52

COUNTY ROUTE 17/11

COUNTY ROUTE 7/8

CR 6

COUNTY ROUTE 52/32

CO 17/6

COUNTY ROUTE 13/1

US 52 Alternate

COUNTY ROUTE 8/4

CR 52/6

MAPLE AVENUE

CO 16/59

County Route 635/3

COUNTY ROUTE 3/2

CR. 7

WV 16

COUNTY ROUTE 13/1

COUNTY ROUTE 13/1

County Route 83/14

CR 83/13

COUNTY ROUTE 9

WV 83

CO 83/23

COUNTY ROUTE 8

COUNTY ROUTE 1

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