CDOT explains recent closures of South Academy Boulevard under new Interstate 25 bridges in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Drivers may have wondered why South Academy Boulevard, under the pair of newly-built overpasses on I-25, has been closed often during overnights this summer.
It's because of what's going on above the boulevard.
The new bridges are part of the Military Access, Mobility and Safety Improvement Project (MAMSIP) that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) started two years ago.
It also placed new concrete pavement on 7.5 miles of I-25 between South Academy and Fountain.
One of the final steps of the overpass project is to apply a coating of polyester material to protect it from weather and traffic wear-and-tear; closing South Academy underneath protects traffic from anything that might fall off.
Recently, however, crews found that the material was too thick in one area -- and that caused water to pool, which would present a hydroplaning or ice risk when normal traffic resumes.
So, workers have been slowly leveling off the excess material.
And it's not an easy job.
"What they use is a diamond grinder, and they've actually been using, like, a belt over the last couple nights," said Randy Johnson, CDOT's project engineer. "That has been working. But each belt lasts about eight minutes."
Crews also have placed erosion blankets on all four corners of the interchange, as added protection from erosion caused by recent rain.
Workers even had to spend time plugging an underground spring that developed suddenly; it produced enough water to make for a messier construction site.
"It cost around $15,000 to address that," Johnson explained. "It came out of nowhere."
The project is now in its final stages.
Johnson said that during the next overnight closure on Monday, crews will stain walls under the overpasses and install a storm sewer before CDOT's goal of finishing everything -- weather permitting -- by the end of October.
