Posted on 11/26/2004 7:22:58 AM PST by scab4faa
GLENWOOD SPRINGS - Full repair and cleanup following the rockslide on I-70 on Thanksgiving day could take weeks, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Huge boulders crashed down onto I-70 in Glenwood Canyon Thursday morning.
" It is estimated that around one half dozen boulders are embedded between six and eight feet into the roadway," says Stacy Stegman, CDOT Spokesperson. "Additionally, two retaining wall panels along the westbound lanes have been completely knocked out. Other roadway and guardrail damage has also occurred."
Crews are working through the night to open one lane each direction by Friday morning.
Structural engineers with the Colorado Department of Transportation are studying the damage. A geologist has also been called in to assess the rockfall slope. It appears it may still be unstable, Stegman says.
Eastbound I-70 is closed at exit 116 in Glenwood Springs and westbound at exit 140 at Gypsum. The rockslide happened right by the Hanging Lakes rest area (mile marker 125). Some of the massive boulders punched completely through the road surface and then tumbled into the river.
Crews say the rockslide is at least 8 to 10 feet deep and almost 100 feet long.
"This is a pretty big slide, there's been bigger, but this is pretty big," said Dwayne Gaymon, a local highway supervisor.
He said three of the boulders that came down in the rockslide were about 8 feet square. An engineer on site described one boulder as being the size of a van.
"It hit in a place where it knocked the wall out so it knocked all the base material out from underneath it and made a pretty big size hole," said Gaymon.
It is estimated that around one half dozen boulders are embedded between six and eight feet into the roadway. Additionally, two retaining wall panels along the westbound lanes have been completely knocked out. Other roadway and guardrail damage has also occurred.
No vehicles were trapped in the slide and no one was injured. The highway had been closed due to a semi accident earlier Thanksgiving morning. The Colorado Department of Transportation was just getting ready to open the road when the rockslide happened about a mile away.
There is no easy way around the slide. The only alternate route for eastbound traffic: Colorado Hwy. 13 to U.S. 40 and for westbound traffic: US 131 to US 40. That's about a 230-mile detour.
CDOT says crews will continue working solidly until they can get at least one lane open.
Even if crews are able to open one lane of the highway each way, long delays are expected for anyone planning to drive through the area.
Alternate Routes from CDOT:
Local Vail Valley travelers heading westbound:
Travel NB on HWY 131 from Wolcott to US 40; Travel WB on US 40 to CR 13; then south through Meeker to return to WB or EB I-70.
EB from Glenwood or points further west:
Travel NB on CR 13 out of Rifle through Meeker to US 40; travel EB US 40 through Steamboat; then either SB CR 131 to Wolcott or continue US 40 EB through Empire to access EB I-70 to the Denver area.
WB from Summit County or Denver area:
I-70 to Wolcott, Highway 131 up to Kremmling, US 40 to Craig, then down Highway 13 to Rifle.
Cottonwood Pass from Gypsum to Basalt is not currently recommended as an alternate route as conditions are extremely poor
I could use a dose of the Springs today...
I *love* that stretch of road. It's one of those places that proves that you don't need to go to Europe or anywhere else on vacation. Who needs the Alps? We've got the Rockies.
That said... glad I *flew* this time, rather than drove...
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Wow. I've been on this stretch of road a couple times. Both the scenery and the engineering of the roadway are breathtaking.
Nahh....it's Bush's fault.... Actually, it's probably a fault's fault.
Now that is what I call good fortune. Meaning that there was no traffic on the highway when the slide happened.
I used to travel this route frequently when I went to school in Denver. I even remember when this whole section was under construction. We usually stopped in Glenwood Springs for a little break.
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