Feb 8, 2008 8:00 pm US/Mountain
CDOT Opens I-25 Lanes Next To Sinkhole
Sinkhole Repairs Expected To Last Into Weekend
Reporting
Paul Day
DENVER (AP/CBS4) ―
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Denver Water crews work Friday morning to repair a ruptured water main break that caused a large sinkhole on I-25 Thursday afternoon.
CBS
Road crews opened three lanes of northbound Interstate 25 in Denver early Friday evening after a sinkhole formed in the highway when a water main burst on Thursday.
Denver Water said the repair of the ruptured water main probably would not be completed until over the weekend or early next week. Two lanes remain closed.
The Colorado Department of Transportation had to wait for construction crews to finish cutting out the broken water pipe and then remove it before they could finish paving enough road to create a couple lanes of traffic.
The 40-foot-wide sinkhole at 56th Avenue closed down northbound lanes in Denver and backed up traffic for 10 miles during the Thursday evening commute.
Once the pipe is removed, a new section about 30 feet long will be dropped in to repair the line.
Northbound traffic was routed through two high occupancy vehicle lanes Friday morning and afternoon and miles-long tie-ups didn't materialize as motorists apparently took alternate routes, said CDOT spokeswoman Mindy Crane said.
Southbound lanes remained open through the day, but northbound traffic had to squeeze into the HOV lanes or use jam-packed city streets.
The HOV lanes remaine open without any charges for northbound drivers. The lanes that are open of the highway also have slower speed limits posted.
About 2 million gallons of water rushed from the broken 66-inch-diameter conduit. The Denver water department said the break was likely caused by a pressure surge.
No vehicles fell into the water-filled crater, which was first spotted at about 3 p.m.
Department spokeswoman Stacy Chesney said the leak reduced water pressure for some customers but no one lost service.
Daily traffic in both directions where the break occurred averages up to 199,000 vehicles, Crane said.
A similar sinkhole on Interstate 70 near Vail in 2003 took 11 days to fix.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Section: Traffic 
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