Rock slide closes stretch of I-70
Published on March 08, 2010 at 08:20AM
(GLENWOOD SPRINGS, CO.) – A 17-mile stretch of I-70 has been closed in western Colorado after a rock slide punched gaping holes in a bridge and left huge boulders on the highway. The Colorado Department of Transportation says the slide struck about midnight Sunday near the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon, a deep and narrow chasm about 110 miles west of Denver. No injuries or damage to vehicles were reported. All lanes were closed from Glenwood Springs east to the town of Dotsero and crews are spending the day removing large boulders and using explosives to blow apart some that are the size of a tractor trailer rig. CDOT said up to 25,000 vehicles a day travel that section. Reports said a 1995 rock slide on I-70 in Glenwood Canyon killed three people. A slide on Thanksgiving Day in 2004 closed the highway and required nearly $700,000 worth of repairs.