Emergency Relief Program Resilience Case Study – Colorado: Reducing Risk through Rockfall Mitigation
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Abstract:Interstate 70 (I-70), the main east-west interstate in the State, provides a critical connection for both people and freight through Colorado and across the Rocky Mountains. On August 10, 2020, a fire broke out in the median of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon in Colorado. The Grizzly Creek wildfire grew out of control, burning over 32,000 acres. The canyon was evacuated, and the Interstate was closed for two weeks while the fire continued to burn adjacent to the highway. The flames caused significant damage to highway, bridges, fiber optic cable, signage, and other Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) transportation assets. The fire also triggered extensive rockfall activity that damaged additional CDOT assets, including rockfall fencing, guardrails, roadway surfaces, utility conduit, bike path and pedestrian facilities, and drainage structures. The damage from the original fire and the subsequent debris flows required over $11 million in repairs. Motorists who needed to travel through the canyon faced a several hundred-mile, 4-hour detour. Immediately following the Grizzly Creek fire event, CDOT began conducting emergency repairs to allow emergency vehicles to access the area and repair the damaged portion of I-70. CDOT also began assessing the need for permanent repairs to restore and replace the rockfall fences damaged by the fire. Because the section of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon had experienced numerous rockfall events since it was first constructed, CDOT analyzed options to improve the long-term resilience of the roadway.
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