Total bridges
94
Public highway bridges in Taos County
County profile · official public datasets
Taos County, NM
94 public highway bridges tracked in the FHWA National Bridge Inventory: 38.3% rated Good, 51.1% Fair, 10.6% Poor.
- 94
- Public bridges
- 38.3%
- Good condition
- 10.6%
- Poor condition
The verdict
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory.
Taos County posts a higher-than-median Poor-condition share among rated counties in the state across rated county bridge inventory.
- 32nd
- of 32 on Poor share
- 10.6%
- Poor-condition share
- 94
- public highway bridges
- 1971
- 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.
Taos County Bridge Snapshot
According to the Federal Highway Administration's 2024 National Bridge Inventory, Taos County ranks #32 of 32 New Mexico counties with at least 5 public highway bridges on Poor-condition share (lower share ranks better; currently 10.6%). Taos County, New Mexico contains 94 public highway bridges. Roughly 38.3% are rated “Good,” 51.1% “Fair,” and 10.6% “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
38.3%
36 of 94 rated 7-9
Fair condition
51.1%
48 of 94 rated 5-6
Poor condition
10.6%
10 of 94 rated 4 or below
In-state Poor-share rank
#32 of 32
Among New Mexico counties with 5+ bridges, lower share ranks better
Condition distribution
Share of 94 NBI-tracked bridges by lowest applicable component rating.
Good 38.3% (36)
Fair 51.1% (48)
Poor 10.6% (10)
Taos County's Poor-condition bridges carry 6,073 vehicle crossings a day
That is 2.7% of the county's reported daily bridge traffic on 10.6% of its bridges: Poor-condition structures carry less traffic than their share of the inventory. Each Poor bridge averages 607 crossings a day against 1,575 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 94 of 94 bridges in this county that report an average daily traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
54.3% of Taos County's bridges have passed the 50-year mark
51 of the 94 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 38.3% 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 62.3% of the county's Poor-condition bridge traffic
US-64 over Arroyo Aquaje de Pateca, built 1994, carries 3,781 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 6,073 daily crossings on Poor-rated bridges that report a traffic count. Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release.
When Taos County's bridges were built
94 bridges with a recorded construction year, grouped by decade
- 1930s 6
1930–1939
6 bridges
- 1940s
1940–1949
13 bridges
- 1950s
1950–1959
19 bridges
- 1960s 7
1960–1969
7 bridges
- 1970s
1970–1979
10 bridges
- 1980s
1980–1989
18 bridges
- 1990s
1990–1999
10 bridges
- 2000s
2000–2009
9 bridges
- 2020s 2
2020–2029
2 bridges
What this shows Construction peaked in the 1950s, when 19 of the county's bridges still in the inventory were built, which is 20.2% of those with a recorded year. That cohort is now 65 to 74 years old in the 2024 inventory. Its average build year (1971) matches the New Mexico average (1973).
How Taos County compares with New Mexico's closest counties by inventory size
The 5 New Mexico counties nearest Taos County in number of bridges, with their condition splits. Its 10.6% Poor share is the 6th-lowest of these 6. Its average build year of 1971 against a peer-group mean of 1966 is 5 years newer.
Showing the 5 closest of 31 New Mexico counties eligible for comparison.
| County | Bridges | Good | Fair | Poor | Avg. built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luna County | 107 | 26.2% | 73.8% | 0% | 1961 |
| Catron County | 101 | 45.5% | 50.5% | 4% | 1962 |
| Grant County | 99 | 20.2% | 76.8% | 3% | 1963 |
| Taos County (this page) | 94 | 38.3% | 51.1% | 10.6% | 1971 |
| Eddy County | 93 | 41.9% | 58.1% | 0% | 1978 |
| Guadalupe County | 82 | 23.2% | 67.1% | 9.8% | 1966 |
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 Taos 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 Taos County, both outside New Mexico so the neighborhoods are not the same-state size table above.
Similar inventory size
Nearest county inventories outside NM (94 bridges here).
- Yukon-Koyukuk County, AK · 94 bridges
- Lee County, AR · 94 bridges
- Huerfano County, CO · 94 bridges
- Henry County, KY · 94 bridges
Similar average build year
Nearest mean year-built outside NM (1971 here).
- Wayne County, MI · avg 1971 · 1,026 bridges
- Baltimore County, MD · avg 1971 · 783 bridges
- Washington County, PA · avg 1971 · 655 bridges
- Linn County, OR · avg 1971 · 566 bridges
Source: FHWA National Bridge Inventory, 2024 release. Peers floor at 10 bridges so stub inventories cannot own the match.
Good-condition bridges (36)
FDR 708
GoodOver: RIO PUEBLO
0.1 MI S/O NM 518 INT, Taos, NM
Built 1960 Load: 18.5 t ADT: 50
NM-518
GoodOver: RIO CHIQUITO
1.95 MI S OF JCT NM-68, Taos, NM
Built 1934 Load: 24.0 t ADT: 3,436
NM-68
GoodOver: RIO DON FERNANDO
0.06 MI S OF JCT US-64, Taos, NM
Built 1940 Load: 24.3 t ADT: 16,558
NM-76
GoodOver: LAS TRAMPAS RIVER
5.8 MI S OF JCT NM-75, Taos, NM
Built 1967 Load: 27.5 t ADT: 1,012
US-64
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
13.5 MI E OF JCT US-285, Taos, NM
Built 1964 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 3,781
IRR/NM-75
GoodOver: RIO DEL PUEBLO
1.93 MI W OF JCT NM-76, Taos, NM
Built 1988 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 1,120
NM-570
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
2.5 MI W OF NM-68 / PILAR, Taos, NM
Built 1990 Load: 32.0 t ADT: 118
NM-522
GoodOver: SAN CRISTOBAL CREEK
NM 522 MM 10.9, Taos, NM
Built 1951 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 3,762
NM-522
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
NM 522 MM 18.6, Taos, NM
Built 1953 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 3,081
NM-522
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
NM 522 MM 32.3, Taos, NM
Built 1957 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,073
NM-522
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
NM 522 MM 32.9, Taos, NM
Built 1957 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,073
NM-522
GoodOver: JAROSA CREEK
NM 522 MM 33.8, Taos, NM
Built 1957 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,073
NM-522
GoodOver: COSTILLA CREEK
NM 522 MM 39.9, Taos, NM
Built 1957 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 989
NM-150
GoodOver: RIO HONDO
6.9 MI N OF JCT NM-150, Taos, NM
Built 1972 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,407
55-090
GoodOver: RIO GRANDE DE RANCHOS
0.1 MI S OF JCT NM-240, Taos, NM
Built 1984 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 228
NM-38
GoodOver: RED RIVER
NM 38 MM 4.75, Taos, NM
Built 1987 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,877
NM-196
GoodOver: RIO COSTILLA
7.45 MI E OF JCT NM-522, Taos, NM
Built 1988 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 597
IRR/NM-75
GoodOver: RIO DEL PUEBLO
2.1 MI N OF JCT NM-73, Taos, NM
Built 1989 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,438
US-285
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
0.2 MI N OF US-64/NM285, Taos, NM
Built 1992 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 1,555
FL-6000
GoodOver: RIO FERNANDO DE TAOS
1.75 MI W OF NM-68, Taos, NM
Built 1993 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 228
FL-6000
GoodOver: LAS CRUCES ARROYO
2.1 MI W OF NM-68, Taos, NM
Built 1993 Load: 32.4 t ADT: 228
IRR BIA RTE 708
GoodOver: DRY CREEK
1.6 KM NW OF TAOS PUEBLO, Taos, NM
Built 1994 Load: 32.6 t ADT: 200
GUSDORF ROAD
GoodOver: PASEO DE CANON E DRAIN
0.01 N JCT OF NM-585, Taos, NM
Built 2009 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 3,605
CAMINO DE COLORES
GoodOver: PASEO DE CANON E DRAIN
O.O1 MN JCT NM-585, Taos, NM
Built 2009 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 228
CAMINO DE LA CRUZ
GoodOver: PASEO DEL CANON E DRAIN
0.01 M N OF NM-585, Taos, NM
Built 2003 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 2,742
TAOS MID SCHOOL RD
GoodOver: PASEO DEL CANON E DRAIN
0.01 MN JCT NM-585, Taos, NM
Built 2003 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 228
IRR BIA RTE 201
GoodOver: RIO PUEBLO RIVER
S.EDGE SAN LORENZO PUEBLO, Taos, NM
Built 1989 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 500
IRR BIA RTE 201
GoodOver: BYPASS
S EDGE OF PICURIS PUEBLO, Taos, NM
Built 2000 Load: 32.7 t ADT: 500
NM-240
GoodOver: RIO PUEBLO DE TAOS
NM 240 MM 2.5, Taos, NM
Built 1997 Load: 36.7 t ADT: 1,271
NM-518
GoodOver: RIO DEL PUEBLO
3.10 MI E NM 75 - NM 518, Taos, NM
Built 2001 Load: 37.4 t ADT: 959
NM-518
GoodOver: RIO DEL PUEBLO
2.0 MI E NM 75 - NM 518, Taos, NM
Built 2001 Load: 37.6 t ADT: 959
QUESTA DISTRICT RD
GoodOver: RED RIVER
W/O QUESTA RANGER ST, Taos, NM
Built 2005 Load: 41.1 t ADT: 100
FS Road 478
GoodOver: RIO CHIQUITO
0.15 mi E/O JCT FSR 437, Taos, NM
Built 2021 Load: 49.6 t ADT: 20
55-B007
GoodOver: RIO HONDO
2.4 MI W OF JCT NM-522, Taos, NM
Built 2023 Load: 50.5 t ADT: 234
55-0114
GoodOver: RIO GRANDE DE RANCHOS
0.05 MI WEST JCT NM-240, Taos, NM
Built 1986 Load: 52.6 t ADT: 236
FL-6000
GoodOver: UNNAMED WATERWAY
0.02 MI W OF NM-68, Taos, NM
Built 1994 Load: 71.3 t ADT: 228
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.