Punctured pipe sends muddy water into Roaring Fork

A construction mishap Friday morning sent scores of gallons of muddy water into the Roaring Fork River, though nothing harmful was discharged, a city official said.

A construction crew building a residential home just upstream from the Aspen Club accidentally punctured an irrigation ditch pipe, which flooded the construction site and took sediment from it into the river, said Jack Danneberg, a civil engineer with the city of Aspen.

The water ran into the river for about 30 minutes, starting about 10:30 a.m., and was quickly diverted and then stopped, he said. The construction site is at the end of Crystal Lake Road, he said.

The contractor notified the city of the issue, and city employees helped to stop the flow, Danneberg said. The riverside ditch will be dry until the pipe is repaired, he said.