County profile · official public datasets

Mesa County, CO

319 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 35.1% rated Good, 63.3% Fair, 1.6% Poor.

319
Public bridges: 35.1%
Good condition: 1.6%
Poor condition

The verdict

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

Mesa County posts a top-quartile lowest Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.

Top 19%
lowest Poor share in state: 1.6%
Poor-condition share: 319
public highway bridges: 1981
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.

Mesa County Bridge Snapshot

According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Mesa County ranks #12 of 64 Colorado counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.6%). Mesa County, Colorado contains 319 public highway bridges. Roughly 35.1% are rated “Good,” 63.3% “Fair,” and 1.6% “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

319

Public highway bridges in Mesa County

Good condition

35.1%

112 of 319 rated 7-9

Fair condition

63.3%

202 of 319 rated 5-6

Poor condition

1.6%

5 of 319 rated 4 or below

In-state Poor-share rank

#12 of 64

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

Condition distribution

Share of 319 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.

Good

35.1% (112)

Fair

63.3% (202)

Poor

1.6% (5)

Mesa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,172 vehicle crossings a day

That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,834 crossings a day against 3,721 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 319 of 319 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

40.4% of Mesa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

129 of the 319 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 35.1% 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 58.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

SH 141 ML over COLORADO RIVER, built 1968, carries 8,300 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 5-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.

Share is of the 14,172 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.

1900s

1
1910s

1
1930s

5
1940s

4
1950s

29
1960s

64
1970s

35
1980s

82
1990s

31
2000s

24
2010s

33
2020s

10

What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 82 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.7% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1981) matches the Colorado average (1982).

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

The 5 Colorado counties nearest Mesa County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.6% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1981 against a peer-group mean of 1982 is in line with the group.

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

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Mesa County and the 5 Colorado counties closest to it in inventory size
County	Bridges	Good	Fair	Poor	Avg. built
Arapahoe County	391	26.1%	66.8%	7.2%	1984
Mesa County (this page)	319	35.1%	63.3%	1.6%	1981
Boulder County	311	34.4%	63.3%	2.3%	1987
Pueblo County	264	29.5%	65.9%	4.5%	1973
Douglas County	263	57.8%	39.9%	2.3%	1996
Las Animas County	207	26.1%	59.9%	14%	1968

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

Similar inventory size

Nearest county inventories outside CO (319 bridges here).

Garland County, AR · 319 bridges
Adams County, IL · 319 bridges
Bates County, MO · 319 bridges
Clermont County, OH · 319 bridges

Similar average build year

Nearest mean year-built outside CO (1981 here).

Franklin County, OH · avg 1981 · 922 bridges
Greenville County, SC · avg 1981 · 635 bridges
Montgomery County, OH · avg 1981 · 632 bridges
McLean County, IL · avg 1981 · 624 bridges

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

All 319 Good 112 Fair 202 Poor 5

Fair-condition bridges (202)

Sort:

Mesa County Bridge Snapshot

Condition distribution

Mesa County's Poor-condition bridges carry 14,172 vehicle crossings a day

40.4% of Mesa County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark

One structure carries 58.6% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic

How Mesa County compares with Colorado'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 (202)

COUNTY ROAD 44

COUNTY ROAD 25

COUNTY ROAD 27

COUNTY ROAD T

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 ML EBND

COUNTY ROAD 35

SH 65 ML

SH 340 ML

I 70 ML EBND

I 70 ML WBND

COUNTY ROAD 33.75

US 50 ML

I 70 ML

SH 141 ML

COUNTY ROAD 31.5

I 70 ML WBND

SH 340 ML WBND

COUNTY ROAD 19

COUNTY ROAD 31

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 ML EBND

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 BUSINESS WBND

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 ML EBND

ELM AVENUE

COUNTY ROAD F.5

US 6 ML

US 6 ML

COUNTY ROAD 20

COUNTY ROAD 21

COUNTY ROAD 25

COUNTY ROAD 25.5

COUNTY ROAD 34

COUNTY ROAD 36.75

CR 37.3/ELBERTA AV

COUNTY ROAD 56.5

COUNTY ROAD 65.7

COUNTY ROAD H

I 70 ML EBND

SH 141 ML

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 ML EBND

I 70 ML WBND

I 70 FRONTAGE RD

I70 BUS. RT WBND

COUNTY ROAD 17.45

COUNTY ROAD 18

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