Landon from Littleton writes, “What’s driving you loopy? Hey Jayson. Driving to the mountains this winter I’ve seen a bunch of ice coming by means of the partitions of the westbound Eisenhower tunnel. This weekend a brand new icicle was coming by means of the ceiling. I don’t keep in mind this in previous winters, and it doesn’t look like a difficulty within the eastbound tunnel. Needed to know when you had any perception with the wall ice.”
The Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels (EJMT) are actually an engineering marvel however with any tunnel that cuts by means of strong floor, it’s inclined to water intrusion. The ice you noticed contained in the tunnel isn’t a brand new problem for the tunnel upkeep crew. It is without doubt one of the distinctive challenges of managing a posh construction that’s greater than 50 years previous.
Groundwater seeps by means of the partitions of the tunnel all year long. In the summertime, you will notice moist areas on the roadway and on the partitions however within the winter, ice mounds kind when that groundwater permeates the tunnel. There’s a plenum liner, a structural liner inside the tunnel partitions in each tunnel bores that’s designed to mitigate water intrusion inside the tunnel particularly through the freeze and thaw cycles. CDOT tells me their upkeep crews are vigilant on the subject of eradicating the ice buildups inside each tunnels and constantly monitor the place the ice kinds.
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Early each morning through the freeze season, a tunnel upkeep crew will conduct 15-minute visitors holds to allow them to get in every tunnel and scrape off the ice from the roadways, from the partitions and take away any icicles which have fashioned on the ceiling. Then CDOT tunnel operations heart staff monitor the cameras contained in the tunnels searching for the formation of any icicles or giant patches of ice that kind all through the day. I’m instructed the ice has been particularly problematic through the very chilly temperatures this space has skilled these days. CDOT says if a doubtlessly hazardous icicle is recognized, they dispatch their upkeep crews to take away it instantly.
CDOT began a mission in June of 2023 designed to handle this ice build-up concern contained in the tunnel. The Plenum Liner Restore Undertaking was supposed to scale back the quantity of water infiltration the EJMT experiences, particularly within the winter. A grout injection was used to fill the cracks the place that groundwater is penetrating into the plenum liner and ultimately leaking by means of the partitions and on the roadway. Whereas CDOT mentioned that mission would mitigate the ice concern, crews are actually seeing water transfer in another way round and inside the liner creating ice build-ups in numerous places than earlier than.
Stacia Sellers with CDOT tells me, “To higher perceive how the ice formation this 12 months differs from previous years, CDOT’s tunnels crew is planning a mission that will take away a number of the wall panels within the tunnels in order that crews can examine and decide the suitable everlasting repairs. We anticipate this mission coming on-line within the coming weeks, and motorists ought to anticipate an prolonged closure of the eastbound bore for a day so crews can take away the panels. Work is then anticipated to require a single lane weekday closure after the panels are eliminated.”
That work will turn into a part of this general $71 million restore mission that ought to, CDOT hopes, will handle the water concern on a longer-term foundation however can even handle totally different areas in want of restore and rehabilitation within the tunnels. The mission is anticipated to conclude this fall.
Stacia tells me the tunnel lately had a full inspection to verify its structural integrity, and crews conduct day by day inspections to find out if there are any points that would impression visitors, and to take away ice build-up in actual time.
“Holding the tunnels in good working situation is a precedence for CDOT as it’s a lifeline for Colorado’s financial system and communities alongside the Western Slope,” Sellers says.
Btw, for each hour that I-70 is closed, the state’s financial system takes a few $1.6 million hit. In 2021 CDOT recognized $150 million value of repairs wanted to be made to the tunnel.
Denver7 Site visitors Knowledgeable Jayson Luber says he has been protecting Denver-metro visitors since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We consider the precise quantity is over 25 years.) He is obsessive about letting viewers know what’s taking place on their drive and the easiest way to keep away from the issues that spring up. Comply with him on Fb, Twitter or Instagram or hearken to his award successful Driving You Loopy podcast on any podcast app together with iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.
