Highway Officials Use Bombs To Dislodge Rocks Above Highway 550
OURAY, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Department of Transportation is using 30-pound bombs to dislodge rocks that have kept U.S. Highway 550 in southwestern Colorado closed since Jan. 12.
The closure has severed the only direct route from Ouray to Silverton, normally a 70-mile drive over Red Mountain Pass. A detour over Dallas Divide and Lizard Head Pass adds nearly 100 miles to the trip.
Transportation officials say an average of 2,200 vehicles a day use the highway.
Officials say a giant slab about the size of a football field came loose and crumbled into smaller pieces, punching a hole in the highway.
It's unusual for slides to occur in the middle of the winter, but days were unseasonably warm, setting up a freeze-thaw cycle that contributed to the slide.
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