County profile · official public datasets

Pendleton County, WV

114 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 16.7% rated Good, 62.3% Fair, 21.1% Poor.

114
Public bridges
16.7%
Good condition
21.1%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Pendleton 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.

34th
of 55 on Poor share
21.1%
Poor-condition share
114
public highway bridges
1985
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.

Pendleton County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pendleton County ranks #34 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 21.1%). Pendleton County, West Virginia contains 114 public highway bridges. Roughly 16.7% are rated “Good,” 62.3% “Fair,” and 21.1% “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

114

Public highway bridges in Pendleton County

Good condition

16.7%

19 of 114 rated 7-9

Fair condition

62.3%

71 of 114 rated 5-6

Poor condition

21.1%

24 of 114 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#34 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 114 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
16.7% (19)
Fair
62.3% (71)
Poor
21.1% (24)

Pendleton County's Poor-condition bridges carry 12,380 vehicle crossings a day

That is 22.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 21.1% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 516 crossings a day against 738 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 114 of 114 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

27.2% of Pendleton County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

31 of the 114 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 16.7% 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 20.2% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WV. 28 over SENECA CREEK, built 1939, carries 2,500 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 24-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 12,380 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Pendleton County's bridges were built

114 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1985, 5 years newer than the West Virginia average of 1980.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Pendleton County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 21.1% Poor share is the 4th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1985 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 5 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Pendleton County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Berkeley County 119 5%
Lincoln County 118 17.8%
Pocahontas County 118 20.3%
Ohio County 115 27%
Pendleton County (this page) 114 21.1%
Wetzel County 107 26.2%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (114 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1985 here).

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

All 114 Good 19 Fair 71 Poor 24

Good-condition bridges (19)

County Road 28/3

Good

Over: N FK S BRANCH POTOMAC RI

0.27 MI E OF U.S. 33, Pendleton, WV

Built 2023 Load: 33.6 t ADT: 10

US 220

Good

Over: NORTH MILL CREEK

1.81 MI N OF CR 220/2, Pendleton, WV

Built 2013 Load: 34.5 t ADT: 1,100

U.S. 33

Good

Over: BRUSHY RUN

0.03 MI W JCT CR 5/3, Pendleton, WV

Built 2020 Load: 37.2 t ADT: 2,000

US 33

Good

Over: FRIENDS RUN

0.43 mile West of CR 5/11, Pendleton, WV

Built 2016 Load: 39.9 t ADT: 3,100

C.R. 18

Good

Over: SMITH CREEK

1.19 MI. S. JCT. CR 18/1, Pendleton, WV

Built 2014 Load: 40.8 t ADT: 250

U.S. 220

Good

Over: SMITH CREEK

0.01 MI. N. JCT CR 18, Pendleton, WV

Built 2001 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 1,400

US 220

Good

Over: SOUTH BR. POTOMAC RIVER

0.01 MI. N. JCT CR. 2, Pendleton, WV

Built 2006 Load: 41.7 t ADT: 1,300

CR 9

Good

Over: STRINGTOWN RUN

0.34 MI E US 33, Pendleton, WV

Built 1995 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 300

C.R. 9

Good

Over: ROOT RUN

0.02 MI. N. JCT. CR 9/5, Pendleton, WV

Built 2007 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 250

CR 7/1

Good

Over: SENECA CREEK

0.02 mi South of CR 33/3, Pendleton, WV

Built 2015 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 10

U.S. 33

Good

Over: SOUTH BRANCH POTOMAC RIV

0.13 mile West of CR 5/11, Pendleton, WV

Built 2013 Load: 48.1 t ADT: 3,000

CR 18

Good

Over: Smith Creek

0.91 mile W of Jct CR 5/9, Pendleton, WV

Built 2011 Load: 49.9 t ADT: 200

C. R. 5/1

Good

Over: ROARING CREEK

3.49 MI N JCT US 33, Pendleton, WV

Built 1987 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 20

PENDLETON CR 3/3

Good

Over: ROUGH RUN

0.73 MILE NORTH CR 3, Pendleton, WV

Built 2010 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 80

PENDLETON C.R. 11

Good

Over: REEDS CREEK

0.58 mi. east jct. us 220, Pendleton, WV

Built 2012 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 350

C.R. 23/2

Good

Over: WHITETHORN CREEK

0.04 MI. S. JCT. CR 23, Pendleton, WV

Built 1994 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 30

COUNTY ROUTE 17

Good

Over: DRY RUN

2.88 MI. S. OF CR. 19, Pendleton, WV

Built 1992 Load: 59.9 t ADT: 350

CR 18/1

Good

Over: SMITH CREEK

0.30 MI. W. JCT CR 18, Pendleton, WV

Built 1988 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 20

C.R. 25

Good

Over: WHITETHORN CREEK

0.52 MI. W. JCT. CR 23, Pendleton, WV

Built 2000 Load: 70.7 t ADT: 250

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

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.