County profile · official public datasets

Pocahontas County, WV

118 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 23.7% rated Good, 55.9% Fair, 20.3% Poor.

118
Public bridges: 23.7%
Good condition: 20.3%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

32nd
of 55 on Poor share: 20.3%
Poor-condition share: 118
public highway bridges: 1982
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.

Pocahontas County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Pocahontas County ranks #32 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 20.3%). Pocahontas County, West Virginia contains 118 public highway bridges. Roughly 23.7% are rated “Good,” 55.9% “Fair,” and 20.3% “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 Pocahontas County

Good condition

23.7%

28 of 118 rated 7-9

Fair condition

55.9%

66 of 118 rated 5-6

Poor condition

20.3%

24 of 118 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#32 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 118 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

23.7% (28)

Fair

55.9% (66)

Poor

20.3% (24)

Pocahontas County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,435 vehicle crossings a day

That is 41.6% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 20.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry more traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 976 crossings a day against 441 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.

37.3% of Pocahontas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

44 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 23.7% 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 34.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WV 39 over GREENBRIER RIVER, built 1959, carries 8,000 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 23,435 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

pre-1900

1
1910s

1
1920s

1
1930s

9
1940s

2
1950s

16
1960s

9
1970s

9
1980s

14
1990s

21
2000s

10
2010s

18
2020s

7

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 21 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 17.8% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1982) matches the West Virginia average (1980).

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Pocahontas County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 20.3% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1982 against a peer-group mean of 1979 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 Pocahontas County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
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
Lincoln County	118	31.4%	50.8%	17.8%	1989
Pocahontas County (this page)	118	23.7%	55.9%	20.3%	1982
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 Pocahontas 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 Pocahontas County, both outside West Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (118 bridges here).

Autauga County, AL · 118 bridges
Perry County, AR · 118 bridges
Montrose County, CO · 118 bridges
Rabun County, GA · 118 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1982 here).

Oklahoma County, OK · avg 1982 · 1,216 bridges
Jackson County, MO · avg 1982 · 930 bridges
Milwaukee County, WI · avg 1982 · 893 bridges
Champaign County, IL · avg 1982 · 727 bridges

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

All 118 Good 28 Fair 66 Poor 24

All bridges (118)

Sort:

Pocahontas County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Pocahontas County's Poor-condition bridges carry 23,435 vehicle crossings a day

37.3% of Pocahontas County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 34.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Pocahontas 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 (118)

FR 76

FR 223

NO DATA ENTERED

FR 76

NO DATA ENTERED

FR 51

FR 135

FR 86

FR 76

COUNTY ROAD 250/9

FR 794

GLADY DURBIN RD

FR 102

C. R. 39/2

FR 738

W. V. 28

WV. 92

WV.92

CR 92/1

WV. 39 & WV. 92

FR 150

CR 15

WV 28

C R 31

NO DATA ENTERED

C.R. 39/2

CR 6

W. V. 66

C. R. 1/4

CR 28/1

CR 219/5

CR 1

WV 66

US 219 & WV 55

MIDDLE MOUNTAIN RD

WV 28

CR 29/3

WV 28 & 92

COUNTY ROUTE 12

CR 28/3

C.R. 13

WV 28 & 92 F

CR 8

COUNTY RT. 17/4

CR 21/1

CR 1

C. R. 28/5

C.R. 20

C.R. 29/2

WV 39

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