Heavy rain causes big problems in Colorado Springs

Heavy rain over northern Colorado Springs destroyed one drainage ditch.

The ditch behind Rampart High School, near North Union Boulevard and Lexington Drive, collects runoff from the surrounding streets.

Sunday, the rain water managed to seep behind the drainage walls, eroding the materials behind the walls. This resulted in the collapse of the wall.

“What happened last night is, water got in behind it and under it and actually lifted the concrete away and threw it downstream,” said Bard Lower, operations manager of the Colorado Springs Street Division.

Lower said crews were on the scene until late Sunday night in attempts to temporarily repair the wall.

“We’ve moved the chunks up against the sides to provide a slight armoring effect so that we don’t have any more erosion, if we can help it,” said Lower.

Lower said that portion of the ditch will need to be rebuilt.

He said the city engineer and Colorado Springs Utilities were surveying the ditch Monday in an effort to come up with a solution.

“It’s a fairly rare occurrence that you see a whole drainage ditch pick up and move itself downstream. However, the infrastructure is aging in the city,” said Lower.