County profile · official public datasets

Wood County, WV

180 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 42.2% rated Good, 35.6% Fair, 22.2% Poor.

180
Public bridges: 42.2%
Good condition: 22.2%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

37th
of 55 on Poor share: 22.2%
Poor-condition share: 180
public highway bridges: 1980
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.

Wood County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Wood County ranks #37 of 55 West Virginia counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 22.2%). Wood County, West Virginia contains 180 public highway bridges. Roughly 42.2% are rated “Good,” 35.6% “Fair,” and 22.2% “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

180

Public highway bridges in Wood County

Good condition

42.2%

76 of 180 rated 7-9

Fair condition

35.6%

64 of 180 rated 5-6

Poor condition

22.2%

40 of 180 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#37 of 55

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

Condition distribution

Share of 180 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

42.2% (76)

Fair

35.6% (64)

Poor

22.2% (40)

Wood County's Poor-condition bridges carry 152,781 vehicle crossings a day

That is 16.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 22.2% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 3,820 crossings a day against 4,924 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 180 of 180 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

39.4% of Wood County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

71 of the 180 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 42.2% 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 17.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

WEST VIRGINIA 14 over Little Kanawha River, built 1935, carries 27,421 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 40-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 152,781 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

2
1910s

1
1920s

9
1930s

4
1940s

6
1950s

11
1960s

34
1970s

13
1980s

14
1990s

31
2000s

38
2010s

15
2020s

2

What this shows Construction peaked in the 2000s, when 38 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 21.1% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 15 to 24 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1980) matches the West Virginia average (1980).

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

The 5 West Virginia counties nearest Wood County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 22.2% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1980 against a peer-group mean of 1977 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 Wood County and the 5 West Virginia counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Marion County	193	48.2%	30.6%	21.2%	1977
Jackson County	191	38.2%	38.2%	23.6%	1973
Randolph County	190	30.5%	54.2%	15.3%	1989
Preston County	182	35.2%	41.8%	23.1%	1971
Wood County (this page)	180	42.2%	35.6%	22.2%	1980
Mercer County	174	2.3%	72.4%	25.3%	1977

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside WV (180 bridges here).

Blount County, AL · 180 bridges
Craig County, OK · 180 bridges
Lincoln County, WA · 180 bridges
Lamar County, AL · 181 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside WV (1980 here).

Tulsa County, OK · avg 1980 · 1,135 bridges
Miami-Dade County, FL · avg 1980 · 1,057 bridges
Pulaski County, AR · avg 1980 · 721 bridges
McLennan County, TX · avg 1980 · 714 bridges

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

All 180 Good 76 Fair 64 Poor 40

Fair-condition bridges (64)

Sort:

Wood County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Wood County's Poor-condition bridges carry 152,781 vehicle crossings a day

39.4% of Wood County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 17.9% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Wood 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 (64)

COUNTY ROUTE 1

COUNTY ROUTE 9

CR 14/49

I-77

COUNTY ROUTE 38/5

COUNTY ROUTE 50/9

WEST VIRGINIA 68

WV 14

COUNTY ROUTE 14/16

WEST VIRGINIA 95

US 50 WEST

CR 26/4

COUNTY ROAD 27

COUNTY ROUTE 9/12

COUNTY ROUTE 18

CR 47/20

COUNTY ROUTE 26/2

WV 618

US 50 EBL & WBL

I-77 NBL & SBL

I-77 NBL & SBL

I-77 NBL &SBL

US 50

I-77 NBL

I-77 SBL

COUNTY ROUTE 42

US 50 East

US 50 West

I-77 NBL

I-77 NBL

COUNTY ROUTE 26

US 50

COUNTY ROUTE 38

COUNTY ROUTE 4/8

I-77 SBL

US 50

US 50

I-77 NBL

I-77 SBL

WEST VIRGINIA 31

I-77 SBL

COUNTY ROUTE 9

I-77 SBL

US 50 EAST

I-77 NORTHBOUND

I-77 SOUTHBOUND

COUNTY ROUTE 42

WEST VIRGINIA 14

US 50

US 50

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