BlockFrom the record
One of 33 National Register listings published here for Mesa County · listed in 2002 · category: Structure.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Colorado River Bridge
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
- Address. I-70 Frontage Rd. at milepost 62.90, De Beque, 81630
- When was it listed? October 2002
- Category. structure
- Also known as. Highway Bridges in Colorado MPS
- Census division. De Beque
- National Register reference number. 02001154 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Fires near this property
176 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 176 fires within 5 miles of Colorado River Bridge between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,085 acres in total. 99 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 99 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 |
| Smoking | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Other causes | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | DEBEQUE |
| 8 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | SAMPSON 3 |
| 7 September 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | SMITH GLCH |
| 7 September 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | SMITHGLCH2 |
| 6 September 2007 | Natural | under an acre | Northwest District, Grand Junction | LOGAN |
| 5 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.1 acres | DeBeque Volunteer Fire Department | N/A |
| 4 September 2020 | Other causes | 3.1 acres | Mesa County | DEBEQUE |
| 27 September 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
Mines and quarries near this property
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Colorado River Bridge: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nichols Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
16 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names De Beque, the town this property stands in, in 16 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 3 flood, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2011 | Flood | De Beque | $125,000 | Many area waterways in Western Colorado, including the Colorado River, were running at or near bank full conditions to begin June as runoff was enhanced by warming temperatures over a record snow pack. Flood advisories for the Colorado River were in place all of June across Mesa County from near De Beque to the Utah state line. Flood warnings were first issued near Cameo on June 5th, and except for a brief lowering below the flood stagt from the 19th to the 23rd, the warning stayed in place through the end of the month. Minor flooding and bank erosion were experienced from De Beque to the confluence with the Gunnison River in Grand Junction. Some city recreational trails along the river washed away. Within River Bend State Park near Palisade a service road eroded away and part of the disk golf course was washed away. In some areas up to 20 feet of bank was lost to the river and a few homes in Grand Junction and Palisade reported water in the basement from the high water table. ||The Colorado River, from the confluence with the Gunnison River in Grand Junction to the Utah State line was in flood stage from June 7th to June 11th, peaking on the 8th. In numerous places the river flooded low lying areas and approached Interstate 70. The water came within a few inches of closing the I-70 bridge near Skippers Island. A few sections of the river between Fruita and Loma lost between 20 to 30 feet of bank and some utilities were washed out. Multiple agencies and businesses worked to mitigate the flooding problems. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | $100,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | $15,000 | no account filed |
| August 2023 | Flood | De Beque | - | Heavy rain from thunderstorms resulted in minor flooding/ponding of water on portions of I-70 near mile marker 56 going east towards De Beque. |
| May 2020 | Hail | De Beque | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail estimated to be the size of quarters south-southeast of De Beque. Dispatch reported numerous vehicles had to shelter under the highway overpass due to the large hail on Interstate 70 south of De Beque with resulting slowdowns on the highway. |
| May 2020 | Hail | De Beque | - | A severe thunderstorm produced large hail measured to be the size of half dollars south-southeast of De Beque. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | A peak wind gust of 99 mph was measured by the Great Divide automated weather station. |
| July 2016 | Heavy Rain | De Beque | - | Showers and thunderstorms produced torrential rainfall near De Beque, with 1.06 inches measured at one location within three hours. The heavy rain quickly filled up nearby ditches with water. |
| September 2013 | Flash Flood | De Beque | - | Mudslides and flooding closed westbound I-70 from near DeBeque to mile marker 70 for several hours. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | Thunderstorms moving near the Interstate 70 corridor above DeBeque Canyon produced severe wind gusts. |
| July 2011 | Flood | De Beque | - | Flood warnings were in effect for the main stem Colorado River from near DeBeque to Grand Junction on the 1st of July when the river peaked at 13.41 feet. The river then began a slow descent through the remainder of the month, though it fluctuated to advisory levels through July 11th. Minor flooding and bank erosion along the river from DeBeque to the Colorado-Utah state line continued through the first part of the month due to the fast flows and near bankfull conditions. |
| July 2007 | Heavy Rain | De Beque | - | Heavy rain producing thunderstorms resulted in 2 to 3 inches of water to flow over County Road 45.5 at Shire Gulch. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Wildfire | De Beque | - | no account filed |
| September 1997 | Funnel Cloud | De Beque | - | no account filed |
Map coverage status
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Listed places nearby
2 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | IOOF Hall | 1.2 miles | 1993 |
 | De Beque House | 1.4 miles | 1995 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 02001154 in Record Group 79. |
| Mesa County | All 33 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.