How many bridges are in District of Columbia?

District of Columbia has 257 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory. View detailed condition data for each bridge on PlainBridges.

What percentage of bridges in District of Columbia are in Poor condition?

1.9% of bridge records in District of Columbia are in Poor condition, meaning the lowest applicable major-component rating is 4 or below, compared with 7.5% across state inventories.

State profile · Below median Poor share

District of Columbia bridge safety

Name: District of Columbia public highway bridge inventory (FHWA NBI)
Creator: PlainBridges
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, condition ratings, load ratings, and Poor-condition shares for every public highway bridge in District of Columbia.

Compiled by PlainBridges

257
Public bridges: 34.6%
Good condition: 1.9%
Poor condition

District of Columbia holds 257 public highway bridges (#52 of 52 by inventory) with a 1.95% Poor share (#47 of 52 by Poor share).

That is 1.9% of the state's inventory, against an average of 7.5% across the 54 states and territories with Poor-rated bridges on file, which places it 6 of 54 ordered from the lowest Poor share upward. A bridge is rated Poor when its weakest applicable component scores 4 or below on the inspecting agency's 0-9 scale, so the category is a maintenance and funding signal rather than a closure order or a live crossing-safety verdict.

Inventory: FHWA NBI 2024 · last ETL August 2026

Total Bridges

257

Public highway bridges in District of Columbia

Good Condition

34.6%

89 bridges rated 7-9

-15.4pp vs 50% benchmark

Poor Condition

1.9%

5 bridges whose lowest applicable component is rated 0-4

-5.6pp vs national avg 7.5%

District of Columbia vs national bridge condition

District of Columbia - Good condition share 34.6%

National avg

Share of bridges rated 7-9 on the FHWA 0-9 scale (deck, superstructure, substructure all good).

District of Columbia - Poor-condition share 6.5%

National avg

Lower is better. Bar maxes at 30% (worst-state ceiling). National average sits at 7.5%.

Inventory size and Poor-condition share are different measures: District of Columbia has 257 bridges and a 1.9% Poor-condition share in the 2024 NBI, rank #6 of 54 jurisdictions ordered from the lowest share upward. The dashed comparisons mark the national average state rate and the midpoint of the plotted inventory range; neither is a live safety or closure threshold.

District of Columbia vs all states by public bridge inventory

Where this state's FHWA NBI public-highway bridge count sits among every state and territory on PlainBridges

257 52nd of 54 higher than 2 of 54 states

States and territories, banded by public bridge inventory size

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory · 2024

Read the rank neighborhood for District of Columbia

The highlighted point is District of Columbia: 257 bridges and 1.95% in Poor condition, rank #6 of 54 jurisdictions ordered from the lowest share upward. The five jurisdictions immediately above and below District of Columbia on that same Poor-share ordering:

Delaware: 872 bridges · 1.26% Poor
Georgia: 15,069 bridges · 1.59% Poor
District of Columbia: 257 bridges · 1.95% Poor
Florida: 13,036 bridges · 2.79% Poor
Vermont: 2,862 bridges · 2.90% Poor

The full national sortable table lives on the rankings page.

Material families in District of Columbia

Exclusive FHWA material families across all 257 bridges in this state; continuous variants fold into the parent family. Orthogonal to the Poor-share scatter above.

Concrete 64 bridges (25%) Prestressed concrete 27 bridges (11%) Steel 164 bridges (64%) Other 2 bridges (1%)

Who maintains District of Columbia’s inventory

State agency holds 84.8% of the 257 public highway bridges filed under District of Columbia in the 2024 NBI, the agency-of-record split for this state, not a condition verdict.

State agency 218 bridges (85%) Federal agency 33 bridges (13%) Other 6 bridges (2%)

When District of Columbia’s bridges were built

Pre-1950 construction accounts for 28.8% of the 257 bridges with a recorded original year in District of Columbia. Era bands are orthogonal to the Poor-share ranking above.

Pre-1950 74 bridges (29%) 1950–1979 140 bridges (54%) 1980–1999 5 bridges (2%) 2000+ 38 bridges (15%)

Condition Distribution

Bridge inventory deck-condition mix - District of Columbia (FHWA NBI)

Counties (1)

District of Columbia 257

District of Columbia vs nearby ranks

Adjacent states by Poor-condition share (lower share = better)

States are ranked by the share of bridges whose lowest applicable component rating is 4 or below. This describes recorded condition; it does not measure funding effectiveness or live crossing safety. States here sit immediately above and below District of Columbia on the same metric.

Delaware

1.26% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $872

Georgia

1.59% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $15,069

Selected

District of Columbia

1.95% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $257

Florida

2.79% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $13,036

Vermont

2.90% top marginal rate

Structure: Progressive
Burden @ $100K: $2,862

Bridges Needing Most Attention in District of Columbia

Six lowest-condition bridges in District of Columbia, ranked by the portal's composite display score. Inspection intervals are risk-based under current NBIS rules.

JOYCE ROAD

Poor

Over: LUZON BRANCH

0.3 MILES TO BEACH DRIVE., District of Columbia, DC

Built 1950 Load: 11.8 t ADT: 2,100

RAMP FR BENNING RD

Poor

Over: SB KENILWORTH AVE

KENILWORTH&BENNING RD, District of Columbia, DC

Built 1955 Load: 24.1 t ADT: 5,000

H STREET

Poor

Over: WASHINGTON TERMINAL YARD

H STREET OVER RAILROAD, District of Columbia, DC

Built 1907 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 14,300

T. ROOSEVELT BRID

Poor

Over: POT RIVER & POTOMAC

TR BRIDGE-POTOMAC RIVER, District of Columbia, DC

Built 1964 Load: 26.3 t ADT: 103,600

EDGEWATER STABLE A

Poor

Over: ROCK CREEK

0.3 MILES FROM CONNECTICU, District of Columbia, DC

Built 1958 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 50

All Bridges in District of Columbia

Sort by:

District of Columbia vs national bridge condition

Material families in District of Columbia

Who maintains District of Columbia’s inventory

When District of Columbia’s bridges were built

Condition Distribution

Counties (1)

Bridges Needing Most Attention in District of Columbia

JOYCE ROAD

RAMP FR BENNING RD

H STREET

T. ROOSEVELT BRID

EDGEWATER STABLE A

All Bridges in District of Columbia

ANACOSTIA FREEWAY

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

SOUTHEAST FWY

GWMP (SB)

RAMP E TO 12TH ST

WISCONSIN AVENUE

K STREET N.W.

SOUTHERN AVENUE

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

OHIO DRIVE

M. L. KING AVENUE

K STREET N.W.

PENNSYLVANIA AVE

SHERRILL DRIVE

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

KENILWORTH AVE SB

E STREET NW

Southeast Freeway

4TH ST.S.E.

24TH STREET N.W.

Rmp from NB I-295

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

23RD STREET N.W.

TR BRIDGE(RAMP A)

NEW YORK AVENUE

M Street N.W.

35TH ST N.E.

I-695 SE FREEWAY

RAMP TO I-66

GWMP (NB)

THOMPSON BOAT CENT

ALABAMA AVENUE SE

55TH STREET N.E.

QUEENS CHAPEL ROAD

C Street N.E.

RAMP TO BENNING RD

9TH STREET RAMP M

D STREET N.W.

KENILWORTH AVE NB

BENNING RD-WB

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

TR BRIDGE(RAMP K)

ANACOSTIA FREEWAY

EAST BASIN DRIVE

SOUTHWEST FREEWAY

11th Street S.E.

MALCOM X AVENUE

SB I-295 Exit Ramp

S. Capitol Street

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