Total bridges
259
Public highway bridges in Apache County
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.
- 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.
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.
When Apache County's bridges were built
259 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1900s 1
1900–1909
1 bridges
- 1920s 2
1920–1929
2 bridges
- 1930s 18
1930–1939
18 bridges
- 1940s 4
1940–1949
4 bridges
- 1950s 26
1950–1959
26 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
71 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
52 bridges
- 1980s 26
1980–1989
26 bridges
- 1990s 26
1990–1999
26 bridges
- 2000s 11
2000–2009
11 bridges
- 2010s 14
2010–2019
14 bridges
- 2020s 8
2020–2029
8 bridges
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.
| 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.
Poor-condition bridges (15)
IRR BIA RTE N35
PoorOver: WALKER CREEK
7.7MI E 8.2MI N ROCKPOINT, Apache, AZ
Built 1977 Load: 3.0 t ADT: 192
IRR BIA RTE N9073
PoorOver: UPPER BONITO WASH
1.7 MI NW OF FT DEFIANCE, Apache, AZ
Built 1972 Load: 6.7 t ADT: 400
IRR BIA RTE N26
PoorOver: BIS LI AH WASH
4 MI EAST OF AZ HWY 191, Apache, AZ
Built 1976 Load: 12.8 t ADT: 300
IRR BIA RTE N9402
PoorOver: WHITEWATER CREEK
3.6 MI W 6.7 MI S LUPTON, Apache, AZ
Built 1973 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 274
IRR BIA RTE N39
PoorOver: LONE TULE WASH
6.2 MI N. ARIZONA HWY 264, Apache, AZ
Built 1959 Load: 21.7 t ADT: 550
IRR Old US 66
PoorOver: Querino Canyon
3.0 mi NE of Cedar Pt TI, Apache, AZ
Built 1931 Load: 22.7 t ADT: 500
IRR BIA RTE N9054
PoorOver: STEAMBOAT WASH
1 MI SW OF STEAMBOAT AZ, Apache, AZ
Built 1959 Load: 24.8 t ADT: 111
Hooper Ranch Rd
PoorOver: Little Colorado River
1.5 mi E Jct US 180, Apache, AZ
Built 1984 Load: 28.1 t ADT: 40
IRR I 40; WB
PoorOver: Window Rock Rd
18.0 mi E Jct US 191, Apache, AZ
Built 1964 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 8,418
IRR BIA RTE N59
PoorOver: BURRO WASH
7 MI NW OF AGENCY LINE, Apache, AZ
Built 1976 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,620
IRR BIA RTE N123
PoorOver: WASH
1 MI N HUNTERS POINT T.P., Apache, AZ
Built 1990 Load: 33.8 t ADT: 123
IRR BIA RTE N12
PoorOver: WHISKEY CREEK
5.5MI SE WHEATFIELDS LAKE, Apache, AZ
Built 1964 Load: 34.1 t ADT: 1,543
IRR BIA RTE N8086
PoorOver: CHINLE WASH
0.5 MI EAST OF MANY FARMS, Apache, AZ
Built 1973 Load: 43.0 t ADT: 600
IRR BIA RTE N203
PoorOver: KIN LI CHEE WASH
2.8 MI N OF AZ 264 ON 930, Apache, AZ
Built 1960 Load: 54.1 t ADT: 302
IRR BIA RTE N33
PoorOver: WASH
4.7 MI NE COVE DAY SCHOOL, Apache, AZ
Built 1997 Load: 90.6 t ADT: 330
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBridges
Every figure on PlainBridges is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. NBI condition categories reflect the latest reported inventory record, not a live safety, closure, or travel decision.