County profile · official public datasets

Kiowa County, CO

31 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 48.4% rated Good, 45.2% Fair, 6.5% Poor.

31
Public bridges
48.4%
Good condition
6.5%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

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

44th
of 64 on Poor share
6.5%
Poor-condition share
31
public highway bridges
1986
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.

Kiowa County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Kiowa County ranks #44 of 64 Colorado counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.5%). Kiowa County, Colorado contains 31 public highway bridges. Roughly 48.4% are rated “Good,” 45.2% “Fair,” and 6.5% “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

31

Public highway bridges in Kiowa County

Good condition

48.4%

15 of 31 rated 7-9

Fair condition

45.2%

14 of 31 rated 5-6

Poor condition

6.5%

2 of 31 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#44 of 64

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

Condition distribution

Share of 31 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good
48.4% (15)
Fair
45.2% (14)
Poor
6.5% (2)

Kiowa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 484 vehicle crossings a day

That is 3.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 242 crossings a day against 421 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 31 of 31 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

16.1% of Kiowa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

5 of the 31 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 48.4% 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 97.1% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

US 385 ML over DRAW, built 1948, carries 470 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 2-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 484 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

When Kiowa County's bridges were built

31 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade

bridges

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1990s, when 10 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 32.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 25 to 34 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1986) matches the Colorado average (1982).

Source FHWA National Bridge Inventory (year built) As of 2024 NBI release

How Kiowa County compares with Colorado's closest counties by inventory size

The 5 Colorado counties nearest Kiowa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.5% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1986 against a peer-group mean of 1975 is 11 years newer.

Showing the 5 closest of 63 Colorado counties eligible for comparison.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Kiowa County and the 5 Colorado counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Hinsdale County 31 0%
Kiowa County (this page) 31 6.5%
Crowley County 28 3.6%
Dolores County 28 7.1%
Phillips County 27 18.5%
Teller County 27 7.4%

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside CO (31 bridges here).

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside CO (1986 here).

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

All 31 Good 15 Fair 14 Poor 2

All bridges (31)

US 385 ML

Fair

Over: WHITE WOMAN CREEK

10.8 MI N OF JCT SH 96, Kiowa, CO

Built 1975 Load: 19.2 t ADT: 300

COUNTY ROAD 47

Fair

Over: SANTANTA CANAL

.6 MI S OF COUNTY ROAD C, Kiowa, CO

Built 1990 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 7

SH 96 ML

Fair

Over: DRAW

14.2 MI E OF HASWELL, Kiowa, CO

Built 1936 Load: 28.0 t ADT: 480

US 287 ML

Fair

Over: RUSH CREEK

9.0 MI N OF JCT SH 96-W-E, Kiowa, CO

Built 1988 Load: 30.4 t ADT: 4,500

COUNTY ROAD L

Fair

Over: MUSTANG CREEK

.8 MI W OF CR 7, Kiowa, CO

Built 2001 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 10

SH 96 ML

Fair

Over: DRAW

9.1 MI E OF HASWELL, Kiowa, CO

Built 1989 Load: 33.3 t ADT: 480

COUNTY ROAD C

Fair

Over: KICKING BIRD CANAL

0.4 MI E OF CR 39.5, Kiowa, CO

Built 1991 Load: 33.9 t ADT: 10

SH 96 ML

Fair

Over: BIG SANDY CREEK

1.4 MI E OF CHIVINGTON, Kiowa, CO

Built 1962 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 430

COUNTY ROAD E

Fair

Over: ADOBE CREEK

1.4 MI E OF SH 96, Kiowa, CO

Built 1989 Load: 35.1 t ADT: 10

COUNTY ROAD 49

Fair

Over: COMANCHE CANAL

1.3 MI N OF CR A, Kiowa, CO

Built 1991 Load: 35.4 t ADT: 264

SH 96 ML

Fair

Over: ADOBE CREEK

2.3 MI NE OF ARLINGTON, Kiowa, CO

Built 1957 Load: 35.5 t ADT: 420

SH 96 ML

Fair

Over: KIOWA CREEK

21.2 MI E OF HASWELL, Kiowa, CO

Built 1987 Load: 40.7 t ADT: 790

COUNTY ROAD P

Fair

Over: ADOBE CREEK

10.2 MI W OF SH 96, Kiowa, CO

Built 1992 Load: 41.9 t ADT: 10

COUNTY ROAD Y

Fair

Over: RUSH CREEK

1 MI W OF CR 49, Kiowa, CO

Built 2001 Load: 69.0 t ADT: 24

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: DRAW

15.45 MI E OF JCT SH 287, Kiowa, CO

Built 1980 Load: 20.0 t ADT: 430

COUNTY ROAD E

Good

Over: COLT DITCH

2.1 MI E OF SH 96, Kiowa, CO

Built 1988 Load: 21.8 t ADT: 10

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: DRAW

5 MI E OF CROWLEY KIOWA C, Kiowa, CO

Built 1975 Load: 26.8 t ADT: 420

COUNTY ROAD A

Good

Over: SANTANTA CANAL

JUST W OF CR 41.2, Kiowa, CO

Built 1991 Load: 30.8 t ADT: 20

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: DRAW

3.3 MI E OF CROWLEY-KIOWA, Kiowa, CO

Built 2011 Load: 31.1 t ADT: 420

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: COLT CREEK

1.7 MI E OF ARLINGTON, Kiowa, CO

Built 1968 Load: 31.2 t ADT: 420

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: DRAW

1.1 MI CROWLEY-KIOWA, Kiowa, CO

Built 2011 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 420

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: DRAW

11.1 MI E OF ARLINGTON, Kiowa, CO

Built 2011 Load: 34.0 t ADT: 420

COUNTY ROAD C

Good

Over: SANTANTA CANAL

0.5 MI E OF CR 39.5, Kiowa, CO

Built 1991 Load: 35.8 t ADT: 11

COUNTY ROAD S

Good

Over: KIOWA CREEK

0.3 MI WEST OF EADS, Kiowa, CO

Built 1995 Load: 36.3 t ADT: 57

SH 96 ML

Good

Over: RUSH CREEK

10.4 MI E OF JCT SH 287, Kiowa, CO

Built 1988 Load: 39.7 t ADT: 430

COUNTY ROAD B

Good

Over: WILD HORSE CREEK

3 MI E OF CR 74, Kiowa, CO

Built 1993 Load: 40.1 t ADT: 41

COUNTY ROAD W

Good

Over: INTERMITTENT STREAM

.1 MI E OF CR 71, Kiowa, CO

Built 1993 Load: 40.1 t ADT: 82

US 287 ML

Good

Over: Lone Wolf Canal

15.1 MI N OF US 50, Kiowa, CO

Built 2003 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 3,100

COUNTY ROAD 39.5

Good

Over: KICKING BIRD CANAL

JUST SOUTH OF CR A.5, Kiowa, CO

Built 1993 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 29

COUNTY ROAD 40

Poor

Over: KICKING BIRD CANAL

.4 MI N OF CR C, Kiowa, CO

Built 1988 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 14

US 385 ML

Poor

Over: DRAW

13.2 MI E OF PROWERS-KIOW, Kiowa, CO

Built 1948 Load: 20.6 t ADT: 470

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

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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.