National reference · FHWA NBI
U.S. Bridge Statistics
A national snapshot of highway-bridge condition, computed live from every record in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory. Each figure below is aggregated directly from the federal file, not estimated.
- 623,216
- public highway bridges
- 6.8%
- Poor condition (42,080)
- 47 yrs
- average age (623,194 with year built)
- 54
- states & territories
Explore the state condition rankings, compare state inventories, or look up a bridge record.
National snapshot
6.8% of U.S. highway bridges have a major component rated Poor in the 2024 NBI FHWA National Bridge Inventory.
PlainBridges aggregates 623,216 public highway bridge records from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory (2024 NBI). 42,080 bridges carry a Poor component rating on the 0-9 NBI scale, including 3,953 on routes reporting 10,000+ daily vehicles. Poor is an inspection-record category, not a live closure or safety decision, defer to the responsible transportation agency.
National condition breakdown
Applicable deck, superstructure, substructure, and culvert ratings use a 0–9 scale. The lowest applicable rating determines the category: Good is 7–9, Fair is 5–6, and Poor is 0–4. FHWA retired “Structurally Deficient” as a reported status beginning with the 2018 archive.
By the numbers
- 274,858
- bridges in good condition (7-9 rating)
- 42,080
- Poor-condition bridges
- 3,953
- poor bridges carrying 10,000+ vehicles/day
- 406,603,316 m²
- total bridge deck area
Traffic context
Poor-condition records with the highest reported traffic
The 12 records below have the highest annual average daily traffic (ADT) among bridges categorized as Poor in the 2024 NBI. This is an inspection-record and traffic-volume comparison, not a safety, closure, or travel recommendation.
| Rank | Bridge record | Location | Reported ADT | NBI category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MON CO RT 19/25 WV:00000000031A065 | Monongalia, WV | 600,500 | Poor condition |
| 2 | INTERSTATE 110 CA:53 0911 | Los Angeles, CA | 300,000 | Poor condition |
| 3 | U.S. HIGHWAY 101 CA:53 1375 | Los Angeles, CA | 293,000 | Poor condition |
| 4 | INTERSTATE 405 CA:53 1144 | Los Angeles, CA | 269,000 | Poor condition |
| 5 | PR 18 PR:010161 | San Juan, PR | 261,400 | Poor condition |
| 6 | I- 90 94 RYAN ELEV IL:016111600000000 | Cook, IL | 256,900 | Poor condition |
| 7 | INTERSTATE 95 PA:000000000038621 | Philadelphia, PA | 251,200 | Poor condition |
| 8 | INTERSTATE 95 PA:000000000038624 | Philadelphia, PA | 251,200 | Poor condition |
| 9 | INTERSTATE 95 PA:000000000038629 | Philadelphia, PA | 251,200 | Poor condition |
| 10 | INTERSTATE 805 CA:57 0865 | San Diego, CA | 250,000 | Poor condition |
| 11 | STATE ROUTE 134 CA:53 1746 | Los Angeles, CA | 240,000 | Poor condition |
| 12 | INTERSTATE 680 CA:28 0104 | Contra Costa, CA | 235,000 | Poor condition |
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. ADT is the reported annual average daily traffic field; records with no reported ADT are excluded from this ordered extract.
Use the data
Download the 54-jurisdiction rollup behind these figures or the top-100 Poor-condition traffic extract. Each file is generated from the same live database queried by this page.
Download the state statistics CSVShare this inspection record
Send this source-bounded record or download its data card. An NBI condition category is not a closure or live crossing-safety verdict.
Reading these numbers
National condition figures set context; an individual bridge can sit anywhere on the scale.
- About 6.8% of bridges have a major component rated Poor, but most carry low traffic; the 3,953 poor bridges on high-traffic routes matter most. Browse by state
- Poor condition is an inspection-record category, not a live safety or closure decision. Methodology
- The average U.S. bridge is about 47 years old, so condition reflects decades of design, materials, and maintenance, not a single year. Compare states
Figures are computed from the FHWA National Bridge Inventory (2024 NBI) and refreshed when FHWA publishes a new file. Condition ratings describe components, not overall safety; always defer to the responsible transportation agency.