Sinkhole closes I-70 near Rulison

Aspen Times Staff Report
Aspen, CO Colorado

**Courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation**A Colorado Department of Transportation worker examines a sinkhole discovered Wednesday night on Interstate 70, west of Rulison.
*ALL |*

RULISON, Colo. ” Both eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 west of Exit 81 at Rulison are closed Thursday while state highway crews work to repair a sinkhole.

Colorado Department of Transportation crews closed the lanes Wednesday at about 7:20 p.m. and worked through the night trying to repair the problem and determine the cause of the hole. They will continue working through the day; CDOT expects the lanes to reopen Thursday evening.

In the meantime, traffic is being detoured onto US 60 between Exit 81 and Exit 87, west of Rifle in western Colorado.

According to CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks, the sinkhole was about six feet in diameter and eight inches deep when crews found it Wednesday night.

Crews excavated the hole to about 35 feet in diameter and 8 feet in depth to better examine the subsurface and make sure there are no other voids beneath the interstate.

There will be single-lane closures on westbound I-70 in the area, allowing crews to drill test bores to investigate other possible voids.

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