WESTMINSTER, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Transportation and Kraemer North America this week started the rebuild phase of the portion of eastbound U.S. Highway 36 that collapsed last month.
Officials say they hope to have the section of the eastbound lanes of the road near Church Ranch rebuilt in its entirety and to have traffic patterns back to normal by October, if weather can cooperate and crews stay on schedule.
CDOT said the damaged road and retaining wall have been removed, and that crews plan to continue to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 12-hour shifts to complete the project.
CDOT said that the shifted lanes put in place on July 16 will stay in place throughout construction and maintained Wednesday that U.S. 36 was safe but continued to be monitored 24/7.
The next steps involve drilling caissons into the bedrock and backfilling the retaining wall with geofoam, which CDOT says is a strong and lightweight foam that has been effective in the past in dealing with similar soil settlement issues.
“Of the different options considered, this provides the best factor of safety,” CDOT said, adding that the geofoam was being produced locally in Aurora by a company called Insulfoam.
“I am confident that this design team - with careful consideration and expertise - has determined the best solution to create a permanent fix that is safe for the traveling public,” said Region 1 Transportation Director Paul Jesaitis. “This project team has worked diligently and put in countless hours to ensure safety is the top priority. We thank all motorists for their patience during this project, and we ask residents to continue driving with caution through the traffic shift as the rebuild phase begins."