Rabbit Valley Interchange is a preservation-priority historic bridge in Mesa County, Colorado. Built in 1973, the bridge carries County Road L.60 over Interstate 70 near Colorado’s western border with Utah. Named for the Rabbit Valley area it serves, the interchange is both a functional highway crossing and a distinctive example of modern bridge design in a remote Western Slope landscape.
The bridge is significant as a rare steel rigid frame bridge in Colorado. Unlike more common girder, slab, or truss bridges, a rigid frame bridge integrates its supporting legs with the superstructure, allowing the frame itself to carry and distribute loads. At Rabbit Valley Interchange, the slant-leg piers are integral to the bridge’s steel superstructure, giving the crossing a clean, open appearance and a strong visual relationship to its surrounding landscape.
Rabbit Valley Interchange was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. CDOT identifies the bridge as significant under Criterion C in the area of Engineering as the only example of a steel frame bridge in Colorado. Its character-defining features include the steel rigid frame superstructure, long welded beams extending across three spans, and integrated slant-leg piers. These elements help convey the bridge’s engineering importance and distinguish it from more standardized highway bridge types.
The bridge also received national design recognition shortly after it opened to traffic. In 1974, the American Institute of Steel Construction selected Rabbit Valley Interchange as a Prize Bridge in the Highway Grade Separation category. The award recognized steel bridges opened to traffic in 1973, and the jury praised the Rabbit Valley Interchange for its proportions and for the way it blended into its surroundings. That recognition reinforces the bridge’s importance not only as a rare engineering resource, but also as an example of how modern highway structures could be designed with attention to setting, scale, and visual character.
Its location also contributes to the bridge’s identity. Although remote, Rabbit Valley Interchange provides access into a landscape associated with travel, recreation, and the open terrain of far western Colorado. The bridge’s low-profile form, slant-leg supports, and open setting make it a particularly strong example of how modern transportation infrastructure can become part of a place’s visual experience.
In 2021, the Colorado Department of Transportation nominated 46 on-system historic bridges to Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s Endangered Places Program to raise awareness of historic bridge preservation statewide. Rabbit Valley Interchange was later selected as one of 23 Group B preservation-priority bridges recommended for an individual bridge management plan. CDOT noted that the bridge is a rare type in Colorado, is located in a unique and striking setting, and remains a good candidate for preservation.
Preserving Rabbit Valley Interchange presents both opportunities and challenges. Its remote location may make public awareness and advocacy more difficult, but that same setting is part of what makes the bridge distinctive. As an award-winning steel rigid frame bridge, it represents a moment when Interstate-era bridge design could combine engineering efficiency, modern form, and sensitivity to landscape.
Rabbit Valley Interchange helps tell a broader story about Colorado bridge history. While many earlier historic bridges reflect the development of local roads, early state highways, and major river crossings, Rabbit Valley represents a later chapter: the expansion of modern highway infrastructure and the use of new design approaches during the Interstate era. Its continued preservation ensures that this part of Colorado’s transportation and engineering history remains visible in the landscape.
This bridge is one of the 23 preservation-priority bridges featured in Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s Historic Bridges of Colorado listing. View the full Historic Bridges of Colorado overview to learn more about the statewide preservation effort.