Total bridges
160
Public highway bridges in Rio Arriba County
County profile · official public datasets
160 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 47.5% rated Good, 46.3% Fair, 6.3% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Rio Arriba County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across mid-size county bridge inventory.
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.
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Rio Arriba County ranks #23 of 32 New Mexico counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 6.3%). Rio Arriba County, New Mexico contains 160 public highway bridges. Roughly 47.5% are rated “Good,” 46.3% “Fair,” and 6.3% “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
160
Public highway bridges in Rio Arriba County
Good condition
47.5%
76 of 160 rated 7-9
Fair condition
46.3%
74 of 160 rated 5-6
Poor condition
6.3%
10 of 160 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#23 of 32
Among New Mexico counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 160 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 4.3% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 6.3% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 2,401 crossings a day against 3,678 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 160 of 160 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
79 of the 160 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 47.5% 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.
NM-68 NB over SANTA CRUZ RIVER, built 1957, carries 22,174 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 10-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 24,007 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
160 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1920–1929
2 bridges
1930–1939
12 bridges
1940–1949
21 bridges
1950–1959
17 bridges
1960–1969
23 bridges
1970–1979
17 bridges
1980–1989
26 bridges
1990–1999
13 bridges
2000–2009
14 bridges
2010–2019
12 bridges
2020–2029
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 26 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 16.3% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1973) matches the New Mexico average (1973).
The 5 New Mexico counties nearest Rio Arriba County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 6.3% Poor share is the 3rd-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1973 against a peer-group mean of 1972 is in line with the group.
Showing the 5 closest of 31 New Mexico counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socorro County | 188 | 16.5% | 76.1% | 7.4% | 1961 |
| Sandoval County | 182 | 40.7% | 54.4% | 4.9% | 1979 |
| San Miguel County | 175 | 41.1% | 50.9% | 8% | 1972 |
| San Juan County | 174 | 36.8% | 56.9% | 6.3% | 1977 |
| Rio Arriba County (this page) | 160 | 47.5% | 46.3% | 6.3% | 1973 |
| Colfax County | 140 | 37.9% | 57.1% | 5% | 1969 |
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 Rio Arriba County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Rio Arriba County, both outside New Mexico so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside NM (160 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside NM (1973 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: AMARGO CREEK
0.05 M S JCT US-64/CR-356, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: EL VADO SPILLWAY
15 miles west jct. US 84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: VALLECITOS RIVER
3.4 NW/O NM 111 INT, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: EL RITO CREEK
NM 554 at milepost 12.29, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO CHAMA
2.7 MI NW/O BIG EDDY BOAT, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: TUSAS RIVER
0.15 MI W/O US 64 INT, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CANADA DE LAS ENTRANAS
NM 68 MM 14.8, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
11.4 MI N OF JCT NM-74, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
8.60 MI N OF US-64 @ T.P., Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
3.55 MI E OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
6.1 MI E OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
9.05 MI E OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.80 MI N JCT US 285, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
5.90 MI N NM-554 /EL RITO, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
6.80 MI N NM-554 /EL RITO, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
0.68 MI N NM-96/ABIQUIU, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.30 MI S OF JCT NM-17, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
3.65 MI S OF JCT NM-17, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
6.7 MI N OF JCT US-64, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
5.80 MI N OF JCT US-64, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
2.40 MI N OF US-64 @ T.P., Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO GRANDE
0.3 MI E OF JCT NM30, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO DE PENASCO
2.40 MI S NM-580 & NM, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO DE PENASCO
0.25 MI N JCT NM75/DIXON, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO GRANDE
0.30 MI W OF NM 68, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: ARROYO DEL TORO
6.2 MI N OF JCT US-285, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO EMBUDO
0.20 MI S OF JCT NM-75, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
2.20 MI N OF JCT NM-75, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: AMERICAN CREEK
2 MI SE/O SAN GREGORIO TR, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: ROCK LAKE CREEK
15.7 MI W US 64/84 PARKVI, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CHAMA RIVER
0.5 MI N OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: ARROYO DEL PALACIO
1.30 MI N OF NM-389, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CANADA ANCHA
4.60 MI N OF NM-389, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO DE TRUCHAS
12.380 N Jct US 84/285, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: BORRACHO CREEK
0.3 MI W/O CO RD 250 INT, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: ARROYO NUTRIAS
9.53 MI S OF JCT NM 531, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RITO DE TIERRA AMARILLA
0.10 MI S OF JCT NM-531, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
2.80 MI N OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CANONES CREEK
5.0 MI S JCT NM-17/CHAMA, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
JCT NM-519 @ LA MADERA, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.4 MI N OF JCT NM-519, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO PENASCO
NM 75 MM 3.05, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
8.5 W OF JCT NM-111, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.50 MI W OF JCT NM-111, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
5.07 MI N OF US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: GUACHUPANGE ARROYO
0.30 MI S OF JCT US-84, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
4.35 MI NORTH JCT NM-502, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CHAMA RIVER
CHAMA RIVER AT ABIQUIU, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: RIO GRANDE
0.5 MI W OF JCT NM-68, Rio Arriba, NM
Over: CANONES CREEK
3.0 MI S OF NM 96, Rio Arriba, NM
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
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.