New Castle County Bridge Report Card

New Castle County scores 90 out of 100 on BridgeLookup's Bridge Condition Exposure Score, based on FHWA National Bridge Inventory records.

A90 / 100

Local infrastructure snapshot

New Castle County, Delaware

New Castle County has 528 bridges in the National Bridge Inventory, with 5 rated poor and 19 rated scour-critical. Its poor-condition share of 0.9% is at or below the 1.1% statewide average. Poor-condition bridges carry about 105,760 daily vehicle crossings.

528Total Bridges

5Poor (0.9%)

314Fair (59.5%)

19Scour-Critical

Quote-Ready Local Facts

0.9%of county bridges are in poor condition, compared with 1.1% statewide and 6.7% nationally.

105,760daily vehicle crossings are on poor-condition bridges in the county.

19bridges are rated scour-critical, or 3.6% of the county bridge inventory.

Copyable Facts for Reporters

BridgeLookup.com gives New Castle County a Bridge Condition Exposure Score of 90/100 (A). The county has 528 bridges in the National Bridge Inventory, including 5 in poor condition and 19 rated scour-critical. Poor-condition bridges carry about 105,760 daily vehicle crossings. Poor condition does not mean unsafe; bridges judged unsafe are closed or restricted by transportation agencies.

Download all county report-card scores as CSV.

How the Score Breaks Down

Factor	Weight	County Value	Penalty
Poor-condition bridge share	40	0.9%	1.9
Poor-condition traffic exposure	25	1.1% of measured traffic	0.8
Scour-critical bridge share	20	3.6%	7.2
Average age vs national baseline	10	49 years vs 48 nationally	0.3
Traffic-data completeness	5	9,846,720 measured daily crossings	0.0

Score = 100 minus weighted penalties. The score is a comparative research signal, not an official safety rating. Read the full methodology.

County Comparisons

County Poor-Condition Share	0.9%
State Poor-Condition Share	1.1%
National Poor-Condition Share	6.7%
County Scour-Critical Share	3.6%
Average Bridge Age	49 years
Poor-Condition Traffic Exposure	105,760 vehicles/day

Bridges to Watch

Busiest Poor-Condition BridgeI 495 SB over I 95 NB — 84,782 vehicles/day Oldest Listed BridgeSmith Bridge RD over Brandywine Creek — built in 1839 All County BridgesBrowse every bridge record in New Castle County.

Top Bridges to Watch in New Castle County

Bridge	Reason	Condition	Daily Traffic	Year Built
Dupont Pkw/us13 SB over Blackbird Creek	Poor condition + traffic exposure	Poor	11,020	1920
I 495 SB over I 95 NB	Poor condition + traffic exposure	Poor	84,782	1965
South Heald ST over Norfolk Southern	Poor condition + traffic exposure	Poor	7,915	1942
Delaware Rt. 9 over C&d Canal	Poor condition + traffic exposure	Poor	1,203	1969
SR 9 over Appoquinimink River	Poor condition + traffic exposure	Poor	840	1973
Capitol Trail/sr2 over White Clay Creek	Scour-critical foundation rating	Fair	23,150	1955
Kirkwood Hwy/sr2 over Trib To Little Mill Crk	Scour-critical foundation rating	Good	21,909	1949
Kirkwood Hwy/sr2 over Red Clay Creek & Rr	Scour-critical foundation rating	Fair	20,030	1940
Kirkwood Hwy/sr2 over Red Clay Creek & Rr	Scour-critical foundation rating	Fair	20,030	1940
Sr4 Westbound over Red Clay Creek	Scour-critical foundation rating	Fair	16,101	1967

Important safety note

Poor condition does not mean a bridge is unsafe. It means at least one major component has significant deterioration and the bridge is a priority for maintenance, repair, or replacement. Bridges judged unsafe are closed or restricted by transportation agencies.