County profile · official public datasets

Putnam County, WV

135 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 32.6% rated Good, 51.9% Fair, 15.6% Poor.

135
Public bridges
32.6%
Good condition
15.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Putnam County pairs a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state inventory.

Top 42%
lowest Poor share in state
15.6%
Poor-condition share
135
public highway bridges
1987
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.

Putnam County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Putnam County ranks #23 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 15.6%). Putnam County, West Virginia contains 135 public highway bridges. Roughly 32.6% are rated “Good,” 51.9% “Fair,” and 15.6% “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

135

Public highway bridges in Putnam County

Good condition

32.6%

44 of 135 rated 7-9

Fair condition

51.9%

70 of 135 rated 5-6

Poor condition

15.6%

21 of 135 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#23 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 135 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
32.6% (44)
Fair
51.9% (70)
Poor
15.6% (21)

Putnam County's Poor-condition bridges carry 122,030 vehicle crossings a day

That is 11.1% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 15.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 5,811 crossings a day against 5,677 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 135 of 135 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

26.7% of Putnam County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

36 of the 135 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 32.6% 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 52.8% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

I-64 EB over CR 33/5, built 1959, carries 64,400 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 122,030 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Putnam County's bridges were built

135 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 29 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.5% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1987, 7 years newer than the West Virginia average of 1980.

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

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Putnam County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 15.6% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1987 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 7 years newer.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Putnam County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Mason County 137 16.1%
Putnam County (this page) 135 15.6%
Boone County 131 16%
Hardy County 131 8.4%
Roane County 130 26.2%
Ritchie County 127 26.8%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (135 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1987 here).

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

All 135 Good 44 Fair 70 Poor 21

Fair-condition bridges (70)

COUNTY ROUTE 27

Fair

Over: HEIZER CREEK

2.27 MI N OF CR 27/5, Putnam, WV

Built 1993 Load: 53.5 t ADT: 300

COUNTY ROUTE 50

Fair

Over: LAYWELL BR SYCAMORE CR

0.10 MI S OF CR 506, Putnam, WV

Built 1976 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 60

CONNER STREET

Fair

Over: CSX RAILROAD

0.01 MI N OF WV 34, Putnam, WV

Built 1992 Load: 55.3 t ADT: 3,000

CR 38

Fair

Over: HARMONS CREEK

0.04 MI W OF CR 38/3, Putnam, WV

Built 1993 Load: 57.1 t ADT: 150

CR 38

Fair

Over: HARMONS CREEK

0.31 MI E OF CR 38/3, Putnam, WV

Built 1993 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 90

US. 60

Fair

Over: HURRICANE CREEK

0.59 MI E OF CR 60/27, Putnam, WV

Built 1943 Load: 58.0 t ADT: 4,700

CR 034/18

Fair

Over: HURRICANE CREEK

0.37 MI E OF WV 34 (F), Putnam, WV

Built 1990 Load: 59.0 t ADT: 350

WV 062

Fair

Over: POCATALICO RIVER

0.41 MI N OF CR 31, Putnam, WV

Built 1988 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 6,300

I-64 EB

Fair

Over: CR60/3 & BR HURRICANE CK

0.72 MI WEST OF CR19 SLS, Putnam, WV

Built 1958 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 22,000

I-64 WB

Fair

Over: CR60/3 & BR HURRICANE CK

0.72 MI W OF CR 19 SLS, Putnam, WV

Built 1958 Load: 60.8 t ADT: 25,000

CR 41

Fair

Over: TRACE FORK

0.10 MI S OF WV 34, Putnam, WV

Built 1990 Load: 61.7 t ADT: 200

CR 5

Fair

Over: MANILLA CREEK

2.62 MI N OF CR 27, Putnam, WV

Built 1991 Load: 62.6 t ADT: 750

CR 19

Fair

Over: TRACE CREEK

0.02 MI SOUTH OF CR 30, Putnam, WV

Built 1995 Load: 63.5 t ADT: 900

COUNTY ROUTE 24

Fair

Over: FIVE & TWENTYMILE CREEK

0.49 MI E OF CR 20, Putnam, WV

Built 1989 Load: 64.4 t ADT: 200

COUNTY ROUTE 44

Fair

Over: SCARY CREEK

0.25 MI NORTH OF CR 33/3, Putnam, WV

Built 2001 Load: 65.3 t ADT: 400

RT 960

Fair

Over: POPLAR FORK

0.02 MIL SO OF CR 33, Putnam, WV

Built 1991 Load: 65.3 t ADT: 200

WV RT 34

Fair

Over: HURRICANE CREEK

0.70 MI N OF CREEK 34/31, Putnam, WV

Built 2000 Load: 67.1 t ADT: 11,800

CR 33 SLS

Fair

Over: POPLAR FK OF MILL CR

0.65 MI E OF CR 46 SLS, Putnam, WV

Built 1988 Load: 73.5 t ADT: 5,700

I-64 EB&WB RAMPS

Fair

Over: ARMOUR CREEK

0.33 MI E OF WV 25, Putnam, WV

Built 1962 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 103,900

I64 E&W RAMPS B&D

Fair

Over: POPLAR FORK

0.15 MI E OF WV 34, Putnam, WV

Built 1960 Load: 88.9 t ADT: 80,480

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.