Fountain to spend $1.7 million on repairs to two bridges

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- Eight months after officials briefly closed a flood-damaged bridge on an Interstate 25 frontage road, a second inspection has found more damage to it and a second bridge south of downtown.

Officials briefly closed the bridge on Bandley Drive after debris cleanup from two days of intense rainfall that also flooded nearby Fountain Creek; the bridge crosses a drainage channel known as the Clover Ditch that flows into the creek from the west.

An initial inspection by city engineers after the June 2023 storms determined that the bridge was safe, but a more detailed inspection later found damage in several areas.

Officials revealed Friday that repairs will focus on the ditch embankment and the area surrounding the bridge.

"We've got about eight feet of scour, or erosion, at the toe side of this bridge," said Robert McDonald, the city's transportation director. "If we let that erosion get much worse and we have too many more storms come through here, we could start losing the integrity of the bridge itself. So, it's imperative that we do these repairs as soon as possible."

The bridge across Jimmy Camp Creek on Old Pueblo Road has lesser damage but needs similar repairs.

To pay for the work, the city will ask the City Council for a $300,000 emergency budget allocation in order to receive a $1.4 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The Fountain Sanitation District will be a partner in the project because it also had infrastructure damage from the storms.

Fountain is addressing several areas affected by flooding damage and erosion from those storms.