The boulder was about the size of a house and dug an 8 foot trench where the highway once was.

https://www.kktv.com/content/n...ghway-510427481.html



DOLORES, Colo. (KKTV) - Boulders weighing a combined 10 million pounds destroyed a stretch of highway in southwestern Colorado and have left road crews with a daunting cleanup job.

"It’s truly mind-boggling that something that big came down," said Mike McVaugh, CDOT Regional Transportation director for southwest Colorado.

McVaugh spoke with 11 News sister station CBS Denver about the job ahead.

The massive boulders were part of a rockslide Friday afternoon that rendered part of Highway 145 impassable. The slide left behind an 8-foot-deep trench where pavement once was.

According to CDOT, the trench was caused by the biggest boulder to fall, which weighs a whopping 8.5 million pounds and is roughly the size of a house. A second boulder landed on the highway that weighs 2.3 pounds. Cleanup crews were dispatched immediately after the slide.

"They sent a plow truck out, they sent a supervisor out. They showed up on site and they were like, ‘That’s not going to work. We’ve got some really big rocks here,’” McVaugh said. “[The boulders] came off a cliff band about 850 feet above the highway."

CDOT further described the operation in a tweet Saturday afternoon:

"A geo-technical crew conducted a ground and aerial investigation of the steep terrain earlier today and determined rock scaling is needed. A team has been airlifted to the “brow” of the ridgeline to clean and clear loose rock that has been found on the face of the ridge. Loose and unstable rock will also need to be cleared from the slope of the mountain. (Scaling is the removal of unstable and loose rock to prevent unpredictable rock fall.) Once the mitigation and scaling work is completed, a crew can then begin the process of drilling and blasting the two massive boulders."

Holy crap

quote:

A second boulder landed on the highway that weighs 2.3 pounds.

Wouldn't this one be called a rock.

Given the combined total was 10.5 million pounds, I think they meant to say the second boulder was 2.3 million pounds.

This story would make a great physics word problem. How much energy is released when a boulder weighing 8.5 millions falls 850 feet onto a State highway below? Assume in this case the coefficient of rolling friction is negligible prior to impact with the road surface...

Eh, whats the big deal? A rock falls on the roadway and the road crew says they can't handle it. We give our road crews explosives to play with. If the first shot doesn't do it, try again. If you go to the Cortez paper, you'll see an aerial view. No houses or buildings for miles. If you put enough under the thing, it'll move. If not, use more dynamite. Its what Sundance asked Butch "think you used enough there, Butch?"


Looks to me they've got a ready supply of fill dirt or rock for the bypass. No reason to haul it away, just use it on-site.

Back in 2005 we attended a jeep event in Ouray. Coming back from out by the Camp Bird mine we hit a road block. The deputy was nice, but said it'll be a while until we can move. Seems like another jeeper was also driving toward Ouray. Then a rock fell off the ridge above the road. Only 1100 feet, or so said the paper. Then it went through the soft top on the jeep and hit him on the head and shoulder (sounds like a shampoo ad). He became deadified. Probably didn't feel a thing, it was quick "and he was doing something he loved".

That's why I use Rain-X...

That's a big rock.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:

quote:

A second boulder landed on the highway that weighs 2.3 pounds.

Wouldn't this one be called a rock.

Technically any rock larger than 10" is a boulder

There might be a car under there.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:
This story would make a great physics word problem. How much energy is released when a boulder weighing 8.5 millions falls 850 feet onto a State highway below? Assume in this case the coefficient of rolling friction is negligible prior to impact with the road surface...

I once had a physics test question that asked if a boulder of a certain size were to roll down a hill of a certain height and land in a lake of water of a certain volume and temperature, how much would the kinetic energy raise the temperature of the lake? Nailed it (exactly 1.0°C). But don't ask me to do it again.

And the Road Runner still managed to escape...

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
There might be a car under there.

Or maybe a coyote...

I blame legal weed for getting the road stoned.

I saw that on Fox News this afternoon. A BIG rock, indeed.

flashguy

quote:

"It’s truly mind-boggling that something that big came down," said Mike McVaugh, CDOT Regional Transportation director for southwest Colorado

What's truly mind-boggling is that Mike is so naïve.

Boulder, Colorado.

So what's new?

In Colorado there are countless huge boulders in the valleys that have fallen from the heights; that’s part of the process why the Appalachians don’t look like the Rockies. When the road runs between the cliff and a big boulder, I sometimes think, “Oh, yeah; I’m glad that wasn’t today.” It’s not common for large rocks to hit people, but it does happen. Several hikers were killed a few years ago, and the girlfriend of a co-worker had a boulder fall on the Interstate that was large enough to cause her airbags to deploy when she hit it.

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:

quote:

"It’s truly mind-boggling that something that big came down," said Mike McVaugh, CDOT Regional Transportation director for southwest Colorado

What's truly mind-boggling is that Mike is so naïve.

No, Mike's right. They should never have put that rock up there in the first place.

And not one bit of moss.