DENVER — The Colorado Department of Transportation plans to fine the contractor in charge of the Central 70 Project over the flooding that stranded several drivers in early August, according to a spokesperson.
Kiewit Meridiam Partners said the day after the flooding happened that drainage pumps on Interstate 70 did not automatically turn on as they were supposed to and that they had to be turned on manually.
Eleven people were rescued from vehicles stuck on the interstate at York Street and eight people were rescued from a van at an underpass at 38th and Blake.
CDOT said the day after the flooding that the section of 46th South Avenue that is under construction about I-70 between Brighton Blvd. and York Street, directly above where the flooding happened, is not yet paved, and may have contributed to the flooding. CDOT has also said the drainage network has yet to be fully completed.
CDOT confirmed Tuesday Kiewit Meridian Partners had notified the department of non-conformance events from the Sept. 7 storm and subsequent flooding – something that did not meet the requirements of the agreement for the project. 9News first reported news of the planned fines.
A spokesperson said the department was determining the facts of what happened “and making sure that it has been rectified.”
The spokesperson, Stacia Sellers, said CDOT would not know the full cost until that process is complete, but that “at the very least we could be looking at tens of thousands [of dollars],” she said in an email.
Sellers said Kiewit had notified CDOT of the non-conformance events on Aug. 17.
“Kiewit regrets that many motorists became stranded in flood water around the Central 70 Project,” a spokesperson for Kiewit said earlier this month, adding that the company was ensuring that pumps would turn on in the future. “We are grateful to the Denver Fire Department for their quick and effective response and that no injuries were reported.”
There are few stations that measure precipitation in the exact area where the heaviest flooding occurred, but approximately 2 miles to the south, the Denver Zoo received 1.85 inches of rain, according to the Mile High Flood District. Near 64th Ave. and Pecos Street about 3 ½ miles to the northwest, about 1 ½ inches of rain fell.
Most of the rain in the storms fell in about 30 minutes. The Denver 3.2 SSE station recorded 0.71 inches of rain in 20 minutes.