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.

Total bridges

195

Public highway bridges in Otero County

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

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.

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

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.

Bridge inventory size and condition shares for Otero County and the 5 Colorado counties closest to it in inventory size
County Bridges Poor
Las Animas County 207 14%
Otero County (this page) 195 10.3%
Morgan County 192 2.6%
Logan County 182 8.8%
Eagle County 174 5.2%
Garfield County 167 1.2%

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).

Similar average build year

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

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

All 195 Good 48 Fair 127 Poor 20

Poor-condition bridges (20)

COUNTY ROAD 6

Poor

Over: ROCKY FORD HIGHLINE CANA

.3 MI S OF CR HH.5, Otero, CO

Built 1950 Load: 6.7 t

COUNTY ROAD 28

Poor

Over: FORT LYON STORAGE CANAL

.1 MI N CR 808, Otero, CO

Built 1982 Load: 7.1 t ADT: 10

COUNTY ROAD HH.5

Poor

Over: ROCKY FORD HIGHLINE CANA

.3 MI E OF CR 4, Otero, CO

Built 1970 Load: 9.1 t ADT: 49

COUNTY ROAD 36

Poor

Over: FORT LYON STORAGE CANAL

4 MI NW OF TIMBER LANE RD, Otero, CO

Built 1960 Load: 10.3 t ADT: 10

COUNTY ROAD HH.5

Poor

Over: APISHAPA RIVER

.2 MI E OF CR 5, Otero, CO

Built 1918 Load: 13.6 t ADT: 22

SH 109 ML

Poor

Over: DRAW

2.7 MI NORTH OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO

Built 1943 Load: 16.3 t ADT: 2,300

US 350 ML

Poor

Over: HOE RANCH ARROYO

8 MILES NE OF BLOOM, Otero, CO

Built 1937 Load: 16.5 t ADT: 470

US 350 ML

Poor

Over: SHEEP CANYON ARROYO

6.3 MILES NE OF BLOOM, Otero, CO

Built 1937 Load: 18.1 t ADT: 470

US 350 ML

Poor

Over: OTERO DITCH

3 MILES S OF LA JUNTA, Otero, CO

Built 1935 Load: 18.7 t ADT: 630

COUNTY ROAD 22

Poor

Over: CATLIN CANAL

.5 MI S OF SH 10, Otero, CO

Built 1966 Load: 19.0 t ADT: 46

COUNTY ROAD CC

Poor

Over: OTERO CANAL

.5 MI W OF CR 21, Otero, CO

Built 1961 Load: 19.3 t ADT: 161

COUNTY ROAD 14

Poor

Over: OTERO CANAL

.2 MI S OF CR HH, Otero, CO

Built 1960 Load: 21.0 t ADT: 97

THIRD STREET

Poor

Over: ANDERSON ARROYO

300 FT W OF MAPLE AVENUE, Otero, CO

Built 1931 Load: 22.8 t ADT: 3,981

COUNTY ROAD 14

Poor

Over: CATLIN CANAL

.3 MI S OF SH 50, Otero, CO

Built 1956 Load: 24.5 t ADT: 90

COUNTY ROAD 11

Poor

Over: OTERO CANAL

.4 MI S OF SH 50, Otero, CO

Built 1964 Load: 24.7 t ADT: 244

COUNTY ROAD 18

Poor

Over: OTERO CANAL

.3 MI N OF CR EE, Otero, CO

Built 1966 Load: 26.5 t ADT: 784

COUNTY ROAD CC.5

Poor

Over: ROCKY FORD CANAL

.1 MI E OF CR 22, Otero, CO

Built 1964 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 4

COUNTY ROAD 11.25

Poor

Over: CATLIN CANAL

.1 MI N OF SH 50, Otero, CO

Built 1950 Load: 28.4 t ADT: 73

COUNTY ROAD Y

Poor

Over: ROCKY FORD HIGHLINE CANA

JUST E OF CR 16, Otero, CO

Built 1964 Load: 33.3 t ADT: 8

US 50 ML EBND

Poor

Over: APISHAPA RIVER

4.2 MI EAST OF FOWLER, Otero, CO

Built 1957 Load: 41.5 t ADT: 2,350

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.