Rock Slide Closes Highway 24 Near Minturn
MINTURN, Colo. (AP/CBS4) - A rock slide that brought down more than 150 tons of rock onto a roadway early Tuesday has closed Colorado Highway 24 near Minturn.
The rock slide occurred about halfway between Minturn and Redcliff and caused significant damage.
The Colorado Department of Transportation has no estimated time for reopening the highway but it's expected to be closed at least all day Tuesday, creating a long detour between for those traveling between Minturn and Leadville.
The call came into the Colorado State Patrol after a driver called to say rocks hit the person's vehicle.
The department says geologists assessed the safety of surrounding areas in a helicopter, including rocks directly above the slide area.
If more rocks need to be brought down it will slow the cleanup process significantly. Some of the boulders that already are on the road had to be blasted so they could be removed.
CDOT will then have to repair the road, which might be initially done with patchwork to get the road open and then crews will come back at a later date for a more permanent fix.
"They put a big hole in our road deck and typically what we'll do is a road patch to get the road open as quickly as possible, and then come back in and do a more permanent fix in the summer," Jack Steiber with CDOT said.
The driver of the vehicle that was hit wasn't injured.
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