Wind halts Glenwood Canyon work; I-70 open Thursday
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
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A helicopter works to fly rockfall fencing into place in Glenwood Canyon on July 27.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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A Huey helicopter was utilized to lift steel posts, weighing 1,800 to 2,800 pounds each.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Glenwood Canyon was closed Wednesday due to helicopter operations to place rockfall netting in response to the major rock slide in February.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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The Huey helicopter was used to lift 13 steel posts, weighing 1,800 to 2,800 pounds each.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
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Two semis became stuck on Cottonwood Pass after they attempted to take the alternate route in response to the full closure of Glenwood Canyon in late July.
Jake Marine / Post Independent |
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Jake Marine / Post Independent |
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The original rock slide that occured near the Hanging Lake tunnel in February.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent |
Downdrafts in Glenwood Canyon on Wednesday forced crews to halt helicopter work on a rockfall mitigation project that was expected to also close Interstate 70 during the day today.
As a result, I-70 will be open through the canyon today and the Colorado Department of Transportation will need to reschedule the work.
The agency said in a statement it will look for a time of low traffic volume in the canyon, possibly a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. When the work is rescheduled, I-70 likely will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., as was the case Wednesday.
Tracy Trulove, CDOT Region 3 communications manager, said the work might be scheduled for the second week of August. And while the team hoped to use only two days of closures for the project, the contract allows for as many as four days, she said.
CDOT still hopes to get the work done in two back-to-back days, she said.
“Future closures in the canyon will now be scheduled to complete the necessary rockfall fencing work,” said Mike Fowler, project engineer.
Crews are working to install four new heavy-duty rockfall fences on the northern canyon wall just west of Hanging Lake Tunnel.
These fences are built to protect the location of a major rockfall in February, which led to a nearly weeklong closure of the canyon, the longest since I-70 was constructed through Glenwood Canyon 24 years ago.
Two of these fences are being placed high on the canyon wall, the highest at about 300 feet, and their heavy steel posts needed to be hauled up by helicopter.
Unfortunately the wind kept crews from placing any of these posts Wednesday, said Trulove.
Two more fences will be constructed after the helicopter work, but they can be reached with a crane.
The closure Wednesday created high traffic from downtown Aspen to the airport as drivers took Colorado 82 over Independence Pass. Pitkin County sheriff’s deputies and Aspen officers turned away 20 oversized vehicles that were trying to go up Independence Pass despite the 35-foot length restriction.
Meanwhile, two semis stalled on Cottonwood Pass road, one of them jackknifed, closing down the road in both directions for more than two hours.
CDOT had advised against using this pass, as well as Fryingpan Road and Hagerman Pass, as detours.
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