NC53 over NE Cape Fear River

Pender County, North Carolina · rated Fair in the 2025 National Bridge Inventory

United States Bridge Conditions2025 National Bridge Inventory, FHWACompiled August 20, 2026

• NC53 over NE Cape Fear River in Pender County, North Carolina, is rated in fair condition in the 2025 National Bridge Inventory (as of August 20, 2026).
• Its lowest-rated component is the deck, rated 5 (fair condition) on the 0-9 scale.
• It was built in 1948, making it 77 years old at the 2025 inventory.
• It carries about 5,700 vehicles a day (traffic count year 2021).
• Its listed owner is the state highway agency.
• It is one of 61 of the 112 inventoried bridges in Pender County rated fair (54.5%); 4 (3.6%) are rated poor.
• Its traffic status in the 2025 inventory is open, no restriction (NBI item 41).
• Its condition class and component ratings are unchanged from the 2024 inventory.
• Its most recent inspection on record is dated September 2024, on a 12-month routine inspection cycle.
• It is coded scour critical (NBI item 113 = 3): scour critical: foundations unstable for the assessed or calculated scour.
• A fair rating means the lowest-rated major component scores 5 or 6 on FHWA's 0-9 scale: some deterioration or minor section loss, but the structure is sound. It is the middle class, not a warning.

View this bridge on a map → (34.59864, -77.87526)

Component ratings

Bridge details

Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2025 data as reported by the North Carolina department of transportation.

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Background: how bridge ratings work · what "poor" and "structurally deficient" actually mean · how often bridges are inspected.