Total bridges
131
Public highway bridges in Lincoln County
County profile · official public datasets
Lincoln County, NM
131 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 37.4% rated Good, 61.1% Fair, 1.5% Poor.
- 131
- Public bridges
- 37.4%
- Good condition
- 1.5%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Lincoln County posts a better-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
- Top 28%
- lowest Poor share in state
- 1.5%
- Poor-condition share
- 131
- public highway bridges
- 1977
- 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.
Lincoln County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Lincoln County ranks #9 of 32 New Mexico counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 1.5%). Lincoln County, New Mexico contains 131 public highway bridges. Roughly 37.4% are rated “Good,” 61.1% “Fair,” and 1.5% “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.
Good condition
37.4%
49 of 131 rated 7-9
Fair condition
61.1%
80 of 131 rated 5-6
Poor condition
1.5%
2 of 131 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#9 of 32
Among New Mexico counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 131 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 37.4% (49)
Fair 61.1% (80)
Poor 1.5% (2)
Lincoln County's Poor-condition bridges carry 467 vehicle crossings a day
That is 0.2% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 1.5% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 234 crossings a day against 2,566 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 131 of 131 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
46.6% of Lincoln County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
61 of the 131 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 37.4% 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 67.7% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
27-Z003 over RIO RUIDOSO, built 1960, carries 316 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 467 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Lincoln County's bridges were built
131 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s
1930–1939
20 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
15 bridges
- 1950s 10
1950–1959
10 bridges
- 1960s
1960–1969
13 bridges
- 1970s 7
1970–1979
7 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
16 bridges
- 1990s 6
1990–1999
6 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
15 bridges
- 2010s
2010–2019
27 bridges
- 2020s 2
2020–2029
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 2010s, when 27 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.6% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 5 to 14 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1977) matches the New Mexico average (1973).
How Lincoln County compares with New Mexico's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 New Mexico counties nearest Lincoln County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 1.5% Poor share is the 2nd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1977 against a peer-group mean of 1971 is 6 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 31 New Mexico counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colfax County | 140 | 37.9% | 57.1% | 5% | 1969 |
| Otero County | 132 | 38.6% | 61.4% | 0% | 1976 |
| Lincoln County (this page) | 131 | 37.4% | 61.1% | 1.5% | 1977 |
| Cibola County | 127 | 49.6% | 40.2% | 10.2% | 1971 |
| Chaves County | 120 | 33.3% | 64.2% | 2.5% | 1970 |
| Quay County | 118 | 34.7% | 58.5% | 6.8% | 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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, both outside New Mexico so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NM (131 bridges here).
- Columbia County, AR · 131 bridges
- Laurel County, KY · 131 bridges
- Franklin County, LA · 131 bridges
- Wright County, MO · 131 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NM (1977 here).
- San Diego County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,632 bridges
- King County, WA · avg 1977 · 1,238 bridges
- Riverside County, CA · avg 1977 · 1,117 bridges
- Shelby County, TN · avg 1977 · 1,077 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
All bridges (131)
US-54
GoodOver: Bull Gap Canyon
12.8 Mi S of US-380/Carri, Lincoln, NM
Built 2013 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
5.7 Mi S of US-380/Carriz, Lincoln, NM
Built 2012 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,708
27-Z001
GoodOver: Rio Ruidoso
457 fr of US-70, Lincoln, NM
Built 2011 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,650
US-54
GoodOver: Bonita Canyon
5.5 Mi S of NM247/Corona, Lincoln, NM
Built 2013 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 1,540
27-Z001
GoodOver: RIO RUIDOSO
JCT. MAIN RD/FLUME CAN.RD, Lincoln, NM
Built 2018 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,676
27-Z001
GoodOver: Ruidoso
540 N of Gavilian Canyon, Lincoln, NM
Built 2019 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 267
NM-349
GoodOver: White Oaks Canyon
US - 54 and SR- 349, Lincoln, NM
Built 2000 Load: 34.9 t ADT: 91
US-54
GoodOver: Unamed waterway
22.04 M S Jct. 54/380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2014 Load: 35.2 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
19.8 MI S OF US-54/380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2014 Load: 35.2 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
7.6 Mi S Of Jct US 54/380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2012 Load: 37.9 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed waterway
14.5 Mi S of US54/380 car, Lincoln, NM
Built 2012 Load: 38.2 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
24.5 miles north of 380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2020 Load: 38.6 t ADT: 1,533
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.4 MI N OF US-380/CARRIZ, Lincoln, NM
Built 1936 Load: 38.9 t ADT: 2,298
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
16.3 M S Jct. US 54/380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2014 Load: 42.1 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: COYOTE CANYON
13.5 MI N OF US-380/CARRI, Lincoln, NM
Built 2015 Load: 44.2 t ADT: 2,266
US-380
GoodOver: NOGAL DRAW
3.2 MI W OF US-54/CARRIZO, Lincoln, NM
Built 1989 Load: 44.4 t ADT: 1,726
US-70
GoodOver: RIO BONITO
0.1 M W OF US-70/380 HOND, Lincoln, NM
Built 2005 Load: 44.5 t ADT: 3,609
US-70 EBL & WBL
GoodOver: DEVILS CANYON
10.1 M W JCT US-380 HONDO, Lincoln, NM
Built 2004 Load: 45.4 t ADT: 3,609
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
6.6 Mi S of US-380/Carriz, Lincoln, NM
Built 2012 Load: 46.0 t ADT: 2,708
27-B018
GoodOver: RUIDOSO RIVER
0.25 MI S US-70 @MP-284.3, Lincoln, NM
Built 1991 Load: 48.0 t ADT: 325
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
9.4 MI N OF US-380/CARRIZ, Lincoln, NM
Built 2015 Load: 49.3 t ADT: 2,191
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
13.0 MI N OF US-380/CARRZ, Lincoln, NM
Built 2013 Load: 49.4 t ADT: 2,266
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
10 M N OF US-380/CARR, Lincoln, NM
Built 2015 Load: 49.8 t ADT: 2,191
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
20.7 MI S OF US-380/CARRI, Lincoln, NM
Built 2015 Load: 50.1 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
19.1 MI S OF US-380/CARRI, Lincoln, NM
Built 2014 Load: 50.4 t ADT: 2,708
US-380
GoodOver: Nogal Creek
0.4 Mi E of NM-37/US-380, Lincoln, NM
Built 2022 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 557
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
17.4 MI S OF US-380/CARRI, Lincoln, NM
Built 2014 Load: 52.1 t ADT: 2,708
US-54
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
18.8 MI N OF US-380/CARRZ, Lincoln, NM
Built 2015 Load: 52.1 t ADT: 2,266
US-54
GoodOver: Unnamed Waterway
9.4 Mi S Of US-380/Carriz, Lincoln, NM
Built 2012 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 2,708
NM-395
PoorOver: Rio Hondo
0.20 M S Jct US-70/380, Lincoln, NM
Built 1953 Load: 21.9 t ADT: 151
27-Z003
PoorOver: RIO RUIDOSO
NEAR RIVER TRAIL, Lincoln, NM
Built 1960 Load: 25.9 t ADT: 316
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.