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Mountain Tunnels Will Have Night Closures Most Of April

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. (AP) - Drivers traveling at night through the Interstate 70 mountain corridor can expect delays while crews install a fixed fire-suppression system in the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels for 20 nights starting Monday, providing tunnel operators equipment to put out a fire in two minutes.

Most of the work on the $20 million system will be done above the tunnels in ventilation shafts, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.

One tunnel will be closed completely with traffic being escorted through the other during the overnight work. "Traffic will be held for up to 20 minutes, but motorists could experience longer delays as the queues are cleared in each direction," the Transportation Department said in a news release.

The eastbound tunnel will be closed April 6-10, April 12-17 and April 19. The westbound work will be done April 20-24, April 26-30 and May 3.

The closures last from 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. each Sunday through Thursday nights, weather permitting, with traffic control starting at 8 p.m.

The new system - water-only fire suppression equipment capable of putting out a fire in its first two minutes - will include two deluge sprinkler zones, according to the department. The system will have fiber optic heat detection to allow a quick response.

The technology won't replace the existing fire engine and crew that are on standby at the tunnel, but it would help keep a fire in the tunnel from spreading to other vehicles, department spokeswoman Emily Wilfong said.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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