CDOT hopes to have landslide on Highway 82 cleared by noon today

mudslide 1 — As of Sunday afternoon, CDOT workers had removed 50 truckloads of material from the mudslide that occurred Saturday night on Highway 82 just south of Glenwood Springs. Crews were expected to work through Monday to reopen the highway.

Courtesy of CDOT

Saturday night’s intense humidity was not without its costs, as a series of mudslides five miles south of Glenwood Springs, just before Thunder River, wreaked havoc and prompted an extended closure of Highway 82 in both directions.

The road was expected to be fully reopened by midday on Monday early Sunday afternoon.

Following a briefing at 2:00 p.m., CDOT set a goal of opening eastbound lanes by 5:00 a.m. today, barring any additional complications due to Sunday night’s weather forecast. Westbound traffic will continue to be detoured via County Road 154 (formerly County Road 82) as crews continue work Sunday night into Monday. CDOT said commuters are urged to allow extra time for travel Monday morning.

landslide 2 — At least an inch of rain brought rocks and mud to Highway 82 on Saturday night, leaving a 0.75-mile-long debris flow that was 4 feet deep in some spots.

Courtesy of CDOT

Shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday night, the Colorado Department of Transportation received reports of a major landslide between mile markers 5 and 6 along Highway 82, trapping 11 vehicles. No injuries were reported, but drivers were evacuated by CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol.

Continued rain overnight caused work to be halted between 1am and 5am on Sunday after stranded drivers were evacuated.

“We were getting a lot of rain with more rocks and mud coming down, so our crews were advised to leave those vehicles stranded and were advised to get out of that slide zone,” said CDOT Regional Communications Manager Lisa Schwantes.

According to Weather.gov’s rainfall tracking system, more than an inch of precipitation fell in the Spring Valley area Saturday night. The result, according to CDOT, was 23 landslide paths — four of them “significant” — that scattered debris across a three-quarters stretch of the roadway. CDOT estimated that more than 40 tons of material remained on the concrete partition and in the eastbound lanes.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 50 trucks had been removed, 46 of which were in the westbound lanes. Tanker trucks and plows worked to clear the eastbound lanes, and work is expected to continue through the night.

“A thin layer of mud remains a problem for traffic safety,” Schwantes said.

CDOT found no fault with the infrastructure and called the slide “a natural event.”

Glenwood Springs remained under a flood watch from the National Weather Service until 10 p.m. Sunday night.