Total bridges
182
Public highway bridges in Sandoval County
County profile · official public datasets
182 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 40.7% rated Good, 54.4% Fair, 4.9% Poor.
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Sandoval County pairs a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state with a newer average build year than the state 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, Sandoval County ranks #20 of 32 New Mexico counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 4.9%). Sandoval County, New Mexico contains 182 public highway bridges. Roughly 40.7% are rated “Good,” 54.4% “Fair,” and 4.9% “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
182
Public highway bridges in Sandoval County
Good condition
40.7%
74 of 182 rated 7-9
Fair condition
54.4%
99 of 182 rated 5-6
Poor condition
4.9%
9 of 182 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#20 of 32
Among New Mexico counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Share of 182 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
That is 0.9% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 4.9% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 1,658 crossings a day against 5,718 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 182 of 182 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
72 of the 182 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 40.7% 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-313 over Las Huertas Creek, built 1975, carries 7,203 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 9-bridge count understates how much of the daily burden sits on a single crossing.
Share is of the 14,923 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
182 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
1930–1939
17 bridges
1940–1949
4 bridges
1950–1959
13 bridges
1960–1969
19 bridges
1970–1979
33 bridges
1980–1989
40 bridges
1990–1999
16 bridges
2000–2009
22 bridges
2010–2019
15 bridges
2020–2029
3 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1980s, when 40 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 22% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 35 to 44 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year is 1979, 6 years newer than the New Mexico average of 1973.
The 5 New Mexico counties nearest Sandoval County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 4.9% Poor share is the 1st-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1979 against a peer-group mean of 1970 is 9 years newer.
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 (this page) | 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 | 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 Sandoval County's. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
Two NBI-derived peer sets for Sandoval County, both outside New Mexico so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Nearest county inventories outside NM (182 bridges here).
Nearest mean year-built outside NM (1979 here).
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Over: TIMBER CRIB RETAIN. WAL
5.3 MI NW/O NM 485/4 JCT, Sandoval, NM
Over: TORREON WASH
25.3 MI W OF US 550, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
3.9 M N OF JCT NM-4/US550, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO DE LAS VACAS
12.2 Mi. E. Jct. US 550, Sandoval, NM
Over: CANYON LARGO
21.1 MI NW OF JCT NM-126, Sandoval, NM
Over: CHAMISA WASH
EAST EDGE OF ZIA PUEBLO, Sandoval, NM
Over: POISON OAK WASH
2.4 KM SE JEMEZ PUEBLO, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO GUADALUPE
0.5 MI S/O FSR 604, Sandoval, NM
Over: JEMEZ RIVER
7.7 MI. WEST NM550/NM528, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
24.4 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO PIEDRA PARADA
20.8 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: NM-473
Junction I-25 and Nm-473, Sandoval, NM
Over: RITO LECHE
0.3 MI S OF JCT NM-126, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO DELOS MONTOYAS
6.4 MI S OF JCT US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: IRRIGATION DITCH
1.26 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
39.6 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: NACIMIENTO CREEK
0.12 M S OF JCT NM197, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO CHIUILLA
3.6 MI N OF JCT NM-96, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
8.3 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
13.9 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
14.6 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
16.0 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
25.0 MI NW OF JCT I-25, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
1.2 MI N JCT I-25/US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
5.6 MI N JCT US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO BALCON
9.1 MI S OF JCT US 550, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
8.2 MI N OF NM-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO PUERCO
13.2 M SW US-550/NM-279, Sandoval, NM
Over: CANADA SANTIAGO
14.2 MI SW OF JCT US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
7.2 MI N JCT NM96 & US550, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO SAN JOSE
0.4 MI N OF US 550, Sandoval, NM
Over: Unnamed Waterway
1.5 M N Jct NM-16/NM-22, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO CEBOLLA
28.9 MI E OF US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO PUERCO
4.5 Mi S of US-550, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO DE LA BARRANCA
1.0 MI N OF NM-448, Sandoval, NM
Over: I-25 SBL and NBL
16.3 M N Jct I-25/I-40, Sandoval, NM
Over: NM-473
Junction I-25/NM-473, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO GRANDE RIVER
SANDOVAL COUNTY, Sandoval, NM
Over: UNNAMED WATERWAY
25.4 miles north of NM 4_, Sandoval, NM
Over: ARROYO DE LOS PINOS
11.3 miles SE of NM 197, Sandoval, NM
Over: Rio Puerco
2.7 NE of NM 126, Sandoval, NM
Over: RIO SAN ANTONIO
0.01 Mi W NM-126 @ MP37.8, Sandoval, NM
Over: Unnamed Waterway
.10 M S Jct West Phalia, Sandoval, NM
Over: Arroyo De Los Montoyas
King Blvd Serene mdws dr, Sandoval, NM
Over: Arroyos De Los Montoyas
.6 mile West Wilpett dr, Sandoval, NM
Over: Arroyo De Los Montoyas
0.3 M W Jct Meadows Blvd, Sandoval, NM
Over: Arroyo Hondo
3 M W Unser Blvd, Sandoval, NM
Over: Lisbon Channel
Jct of Lisbon Ave., Sandoval, NM
Over: Los Montoyas arroyo
Jct Loma Colorado Blvd., Sandoval, NM
Over: SAN MIGUEL CANYON
6.5 M S JCT US-550/NM-197, Sandoval, 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.