While driving on a back road from Logan, New Mexico to Gallegos, New Mexico, I came upon this bridge sitting beside the road. It had obviously been there a while with the cactus growing into it and a trail defined along one side.

A strange mystery in a forbidding land. Was it to be installed at one time and then forgotten? Had it served its purpose and now left to rust away? The crossing of the ravine nearby didn't give a clue: no abutments or trace of its past or future. I took my pictures and traveled on.

Only to find another bridge of similar vintage a few miles later sitting in the grass and brush. These were iron truss span bridges seeming to me from the 40s and the 50s  (Some of us remember those days.). This one didn't have much of the deck frame left; where the parts had gone was unknown. It was even more overgrown than the first one.

I was beginning to think these had been removed due to structural weakness. The ravine this one was next to was still muddy from some recent rain. I doubt it was passable a day or two earlier.

But the mystery was solved when I topped a hill and saw the back of the Gallegos Ranch headquarters, which is  most of Gallegos, NM. The third span was still in place but closed to traffic. Note the load limit on the sign: 10 tons. These bridges had outlived their usefulness and were condemned for safety reasons.

There had been some recent flooding which the county had just finished cleaning up (fortunately for my journey). The present ravine crossing is a concrete surface low water crossing downstream of the old bridge.