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Blasting Brings Down Tons Of Rock Onto I-70

DUMONT, Colo. (CBS4)- Drivers on Interstate 70 were delayed on Thursday as crews blasted rocks to prevent slides from smashing vehicles.

I-70 was shut down near Dumont while crews from the Colorado Department of Transportation conducted the rock mitigation.

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Drone4 flew over the blasting for rock mitigation on I-70 (credit: CBS)

The closure lasted about 30 minutes but that caused nearly an hour of gridlock in the area. There are five more similar closures planned over the next several weeks.

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(credit: CBS)

During one explosion, tons of rock and dirt came crashing down onto I-70. Drone4 flew over the blasting.

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Traffic backups on I-70 (credit: CBS)

Traffic was backed up from Dumont to Idaho Springs on Thursday afternoon.

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Drone4 flew over the blasting for rock mitigation on I-70 (credit: CBS)

CDOT was taking all the precautions to keep people safe.

"So we're going to be evacuating all the businesses that are in the slide pass area and we'll also be looking out for rafters," said CDOT spokeswoman Stacia Sellers.

"Whatever they have to do to make the roads safer that people travel on. That's a pretty highly trafficked area," said Adam Truesdell, who works near the blast zone. "I'd rather be safe than sorry."

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