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SILT, Colorado — Colorado Department of Transportation crews have started repairs of the Interstate 70 overpass at Silt. The bridge and eastbound lanes of I-70 will be closed through Aug. 12, until repairs are complete.
CDOT crews began diverting traffic Wednesday night at mile marker 97 near Silt. Contractor Flame On Inc., a structural steel repair company based in Washington state, was contracted to fix the bridge. Crews will use a heat process to repair and straighten the bridge's two west-side girders (horizontal support beams).
The estimated cost of the project is $140,000, according to a press release from CDOT. The release said that typically in these situations, CDOT is reimbursed the cost through the insurance company of the trucking company involved in the accident.
The bridge was damaged about noon on July 26 when a tractor trailer hauling a water tank struck the bridge, lodging the tank between the bridge and the road surface.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, Manuel Cruz, 48, of Glenwood Springs was issued a citation as the driver of the truck. However, by Thursday the CSP had not released what the citation was for.
The truck Cruz was driving is owned by Screaming Eagle Trucking from Silt.
Traffic will be detoured off and back onto I-70 at Silt via the eastbound exit and entrance ramps. Because of this detour, there will be no eastbound I-70 access at the Silt interchange because the bridge is closed going into Silt.
Westbound I-70 traffic will be unaffected, but motorists wanting to access Silt will be detoured at New Castle to Highway 6.
Motorists from Silt wanting to access the county roads to the south of I-70 will have to take Highway 6, 2.5 miles to the east, use the farmer's overpass to cross the interstate, then travel west on the south side frontage road.
CDOT had closed I-70 at Silt on July 26 around 12.30 p.m., but later reopened the lanes to traffic about 6:30 p.m., when the accident was cleared and structural engineers determined the interstate was safe for travel.
jgardner@postindependent.com
CDOT crews began diverting traffic Wednesday night at mile marker 97 near Silt. Contractor Flame On Inc., a structural steel repair company based in Washington state, was contracted to fix the bridge. Crews will use a heat process to repair and straighten the bridge's two west-side girders (horizontal support beams).
The estimated cost of the project is $140,000, according to a press release from CDOT. The release said that typically in these situations, CDOT is reimbursed the cost through the insurance company of the trucking company involved in the accident.
The bridge was damaged about noon on July 26 when a tractor trailer hauling a water tank struck the bridge, lodging the tank between the bridge and the road surface.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, Manuel Cruz, 48, of Glenwood Springs was issued a citation as the driver of the truck. However, by Thursday the CSP had not released what the citation was for.
The truck Cruz was driving is owned by Screaming Eagle Trucking from Silt.
Traffic will be detoured off and back onto I-70 at Silt via the eastbound exit and entrance ramps. Because of this detour, there will be no eastbound I-70 access at the Silt interchange because the bridge is closed going into Silt.
Westbound I-70 traffic will be unaffected, but motorists wanting to access Silt will be detoured at New Castle to Highway 6.
Motorists from Silt wanting to access the county roads to the south of I-70 will have to take Highway 6, 2.5 miles to the east, use the farmer's overpass to cross the interstate, then travel west on the south side frontage road.
CDOT had closed I-70 at Silt on July 26 around 12.30 p.m., but later reopened the lanes to traffic about 6:30 p.m., when the accident was cleared and structural engineers determined the interstate was safe for travel.
jgardner@postindependent.com
