County profile · official public datasets

Apache County, AZ

259 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.3% rated Good, 45.9% Fair, 5.8% Poor.

Compiled by PlainBridges

259
Public bridges: 48.3%
Good condition: 5.8%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

15th
of 15 on Poor share: 5.8%
Poor-condition share: 259
public highway bridges: 1973
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.

Apache County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Apache County ranks #15 of 15 Arizona counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 5.8%). Apache County, Arizona contains 259 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.3% are rated “Good,” 45.9% “Fair,” and 5.8% “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

259

Public highway bridges in Apache County

Good condition

48.3%

125 of 259 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.9%

119 of 259 rated 5-6

Poor condition

5.8%

15 of 259 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#15 of 15

Among Arizona counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better

Condition distribution

Share of 259 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

48.3% (125)

Fair

45.9% (119)

Poor

5.8% (15)

Apache County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,303 vehicle crossings a day

That is 1.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 5.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,020 crossings a day against 3,412 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 259 of 259 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

57.5% of Apache County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

149 of the 259 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 48.3% 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 55% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

IRR I 40; WB over Window Rock Rd, built 1964, carries 8,418 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 15-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 15,303 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1920s

2
1930s

18
1940s

4
1950s

26
1960s

71
1970s

52
1980s

26
1990s

26
2000s

11
2010s

14
2020s

8

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 71 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 27.4% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the Arizona average (1977).

How Apache County compares with Arizona's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Arizona counties nearest Apache County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 5.8% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1967 is 6 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 14 Arizona counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Apache County and the 5 Arizona counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
La Paz County	306	64.1%	32.4%	3.6%	1961
Navajo County	277	52.7%	45.1%	2.2%	1972
Yuma County	262	50.4%	47.7%	1.9%	1973
Gila County	259	60.2%	37.5%	2.3%	1975
Apache County (this page)	259	48.3%	45.9%	5.8%	1973
Graham County	179	44.1%	52%	3.9%	1954

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 Apache 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 Apache County, both outside Arizona so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside AZ (259 bridges here).

Ellsworth County, KS · 259 bridges
Hampshire County, MA · 259 bridges
Dakota County, MN · 259 bridges
Lafayette County, MS · 259 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside AZ (1973 here).

Jefferson County, AL · avg 1973 · 1,068 bridges
Erie County, NY · avg 1973 · 906 bridges
Davidson County, TN · avg 1973 · 832 bridges
Lancaster County, PA · avg 1973 · 801 bridges

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

All 259 Good 125 Fair 119 Poor 15

Fair-condition bridges (119)

Sort:

Apache County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Apache County's Poor-condition bridges carry 15,303 vehicle crossings a day

57.5% of Apache County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 55% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Apache County compares with Arizona'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 (119)

IRR BIA RTE N27

IRR BIA RTE N112

IRR BIA RTE N7

IRR BIA RTE N112

IRR BIA RTE N9345

IRR BIA RTE N112

IRR BIA RTE N12

IRR BIA RTE N544

I-40 EB

IRR SR 264

I-40 EB

Pinta Road

McCarrell Rd

Ortega Road

IRR I 40; Frontage

IRR Allentown Road

US 191

US 180

IRR I 40; SFR

DENNEHOTSO LOOP

IRR US 191

SR 61

Navajo Road

US 180

US 160

IRR SR 261

US 180

US 180

US 60

IRR BIA RTE N27

IRR I 40; EB

IRR I 40; EB & WB

IRR I 40; WB

IRR I 40; EB

IRR I 40; WB

US 180

IRR BIA RTE 71

IRR St Anselm Rd

IRR BIA RTE N5037

IRR BIA RTE N9402

IRR I 40; SFR

IRR SR 264

IRR BIA RTE N9345

IRR US 191

IRR I 40; WB

IRR BIA RTE N63

I-40 WB

IRR BIA RTE N12

PARK ENTRANCE ROAD

Painted Desert Rd

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