Rocks Come Tumbling Down

A big blast Wednesday morning on highway 24, just west of Manitou Springs. A chunk of rock, 20 feet by 40 feet came tumbling down on the north face of the westbound lanes of the highway.

The Colorado Department of Transportation or CDOT was behind the planned explosion. Maintenance workers had previously noticed a series of small rocks coming down from this rock face. CDOT didn’t want to take any chances with bigger chunks of rock hitting the road.

CDOT, rock mitigation specialist, Ty Ortiz tells me, this particular area of the canyon has hard rock. Over time, this rock weathers and water gets into the pores of the rock. He says once those cracks open up, you have tons of trouble waiting to slide down on the road.

Ortiz adds that the planned blast worked perfectly. Monitors that are similar to yardsticks will help crews monitor and measure, shifting of rock in this area.

Thursday morning from 9 until 3 in the afternoon, there will be more rock mitigation in this same area. Traffic will be down to one lane both directions just west of Cave Of The Winds during the road work. However, there will be no explosions, just cleanup. CDOT tells me it’ll be last day for rock work in this area.