Total bridges
195
Public highway bridges in Otero County
County profile · official public datasets
Otero County, CO
195 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 24.6% rated Good, 65.1% Fair, 10.3% Poor.
- 195
- Public bridges
- 24.6%
- Good condition
- 10.3%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Otero County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with an older average build year than the state inventory.
- 59th
- of 64 on Poor share
- 10.3%
- Poor-condition share
- 195
- 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.
Otero County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Otero County ranks #59 of 64 Colorado counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.3%). Otero County, Colorado contains 195 public highway bridges. Roughly 24.6% are rated “Good,” 65.1% “Fair,” and 10.3% “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
24.6%
48 of 195 rated 7-9
Fair condition
65.1%
127 of 195 rated 5-6
Poor condition
10.3%
20 of 195 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#59 of 64
Among Colorado counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 195 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 24.6% (48)
Fair 65.1% (127)
Poor 10.3% (20)
Otero County's Poor-condition bridges carry 11,799 vehicle crossings a day
That is 7.8% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 9.8% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 621 crossings a day against 742 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 194 of 195 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
63.6% of Otero County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
124 of the 195 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 24.6% 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 33.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
THIRD STREET over ANDERSON ARROYO, built 1931, carries 3,981 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 20-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 11,799 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Otero County's bridges were built
195 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1910s 2
1910–1919
2 bridges
- 1930s 16
1930–1939
16 bridges
- 1940s 10
1940–1949
10 bridges
- 1950s 18
1950–1959
18 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
50 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
35 bridges
- 1980s 15
1980–1989
15 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
23 bridges
- 2000s 11
2000–2009
11 bridges
- 2010s 8
2010–2019
8 bridges
- 2020s 7
2020–2029
7 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1960s, when 50 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 25.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 55 to 64 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1973, 9 years older than the Colorado average of 1982.
How Otero County compares with Colorado's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 Colorado counties nearest Otero County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.3% Poor share is the 5th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1980 is 7 years older.
Showing the 5 closest of 63 Colorado counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Animas County | 207 | 26.1% | 59.9% | 14% | 1968 |
| Otero County (this page) | 195 | 24.6% | 65.1% | 10.3% | 1973 |
| Morgan County | 192 | 47.9% | 49.5% | 2.6% | 1986 |
| Logan County | 182 | 36.8% | 54.4% | 8.8% | 1984 |
| Eagle County | 174 | 39.7% | 55.2% | 5.2% | 1984 |
| Garfield County | 167 | 34.7% | 64.1% | 1.2% | 1980 |
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 Otero 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 Otero County, both outside Colorado so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside CO (195 bridges here).
- Lucas County, IA · 195 bridges
- LaSalle County, LA · 195 bridges
- Sabine County, LA · 195 bridges
- Wilson County, NC · 195 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside CO (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.
Fair-condition bridges (127)
COUNTY ROAD 33
FairOver: FORT LYON CANAL
6 MI SW OF CR DD, Otero, CO
Built 2007 Load: 37.5 t ADT: 42
US 50 ML EBND
FairOver: OTERO CANAL
1 MI E OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO
Built 1957 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 1,600
COUNTY ROAD 22
FairOver: TIMPAS CREEK
.1 MI S OF CR BB, Otero, CO
Built 1971 Load: 37.7 t ADT: 109
US 50 ML WBND
FairOver: OTERO CANAL
1 MI East OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO
Built 2002 Load: 37.8 t ADT: 1,600
COUNTY ROAD Y
FairOver: CROOKED ARROYO
.4 MI E OF CR 24, Otero, CO
Built 1985 Load: 39.7 t ADT: 45
COUNTY ROAD 18
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
.2 MI W OF CR 18, Otero, CO
Built 1989 Load: 40.6 t ADT: 792
COUNTY ROAD 21
FairOver: ROCKY FORD CANAL
.1 MI N OF CR DD.5, Otero, CO
Built 1964 Load: 40.6 t ADT: 243
US 50 ML EBND
FairOver: VANDIVER ARROYO
5.3 MI EAST OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO
Built 1957 Load: 40.7 t ADT: 1,700
COUNTY ROAD 17
FairOver: OTERO CANAL
.2 MI N OF SH 202, Otero, CO
Built 2014 Load: 40.7 t ADT: 88
COUNTY ROAD DD
FairOver: ROCKY FORD CANAL
.6 MI E of CR 21, Otero, CO
Built 1958 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 96
US 350 ML
FairOver: BENTEN ARROYO
5.4 MI E OF JCT SH 71, Otero, CO
Built 2002 Load: 41.3 t ADT: 320
US 50 ML EBND
FairOver: THOMPSON ARROYO
2.6 MI E OF JCT SH 109, Otero, CO
Built 1957 Load: 41.8 t ADT: 1,600
COUNTY ROAD DD
FairOver: ROCKY FORD HIGHLINE CANA
.5 MI W OF CR 13, Otero, CO
Built 1958 Load: 43.6 t ADT: 7
COUNTY ROAD 17
FairOver: DRY CREEK
2.8 MI S OF CR W, Otero, CO
Built 1989 Load: 43.9 t ADT: 3
COUNTY ROAD 11
FairOver: WEST DRY CREEK
7 MI S OF SH 10, Otero, CO
Built 1991 Load: 45.1 t ADT: 3
COUNTY ROAD CC
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
.2 MI E of CR 21, Otero, CO
Built 2016 Load: 45.2 t ADT: 257
SH 71 ML
FairOver: LAKE CANAL
3.2 MI NO OF JCT US 50 ML, Otero, CO
Built 2018 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 1,700
SH 202 ML
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
1.4 MI W OF ROCKY FORD, Otero, CO
Built 1986 Load: 46.4 t ADT: 180
SH 109 ML
FairOver: DRAW
25.6 MI S OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO
Built 1973 Load: 50.2 t ADT: 350
COUNTY ROAD 20.5
FairOver: ROCKY FORD CANAL
.2 MI S OF EE. 25 RD, Otero, CO
Built 1964 Load: 52.7 t ADT: 211
COUNTY ROAD EE
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
1.1 MI E OF CR 18, Otero, CO
Built 2023 Load: 53.2 t ADT: 550
SH 266 ML
FairOver: HOLBROOK CANAL
4 MI NE OF ROCKY FORD, Otero, CO
Built 1937 Load: 53.7 t ADT: 330
SH 10 ML
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
0.3 MI E OF JCT SH 71, Otero, CO
Built 1969 Load: 57.2 t ADT: 610
US 50 ML
FairOver: CATLIN CANAL
0.6 MI EAST OF MANZANOLA, Otero, CO
Built 1969 Load: 58.1 t ADT: 5,600
SH 109 ML
FairOver: DRAW
20.9 MI SOUTH OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO
Built 1972 Load: 58.3 t ADT: 350
COUNTY ROAD 2
FairOver: MUSTANG CREEK
6.3 MI S OF CR H, Otero, CO
Built 1967 Load: 67.0 t ADT: 154
COUNTY ROAD 5.25
FairOver: ROCKY FORD HIGHLINE CANA
1 MI S OF CR 44.5, Otero, CO
Built 1967 Load: 78.7 t ADT: 6
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.