The Colorado Sun originally published this story at 11:33 AM on April 19, 2024.
Update: 7:36 PM, April 20, 2024. : A local detour around the bridge closure on U.S. 50 over Blue Mesa could Reservoir be in place as soon as Monday, allowing only people who live in Gunnison and Montrose counties to reach work, school and medical care.
The Colorado Department of Transportation on Saturday said it was working with Gunnison County to “develop and begin implementing plans to improve a limited local detour so that it can open and carry key local traffic.”
Transportation crews are still inspecting the safety of a bridge over Colorado’s largest reservoir to determine a timeline for when the bridge can be reopened after a 3- to 4-inch crack was discovered along a steel beam last week.
The bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir on U.S. 50 was shut down Thursday evening at the urging of federal highway officials after an inspection crew identified “anomalies” in the bridge, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Friday morning.
No traffic is allowed over the bridge, and currently, there are no available routes for emergency vehicles or local traffic to travel from Gunnison to Montrose without taking 300-mile detours that will take six to seven hours.
“We need to understand a lot more about this bridge before we are able to determine a specific timeline for one: fully opening, two: partially opening, and three: for emergency services only,” Keith Stefanik, a CDOT engineer, said during a briefing Friday. “Our priority right now is to get additional inspectors out there to understand what we are up against with these defects.”
Gov. Jared Polis has been in touch with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg about the closure, CDOT Director Shoshanna Lew said.
“While it’s critical that we catch these things before they happen, this is a very impactful closure for the state of Colorado, and we need them to understand the impetus to get this open as quickly as possible,” Lew said.
“It is a matter of national conversation, which is why the bridge was being inspected at the outset based on known issues with other kinds of bridges like that elsewhere in the country.”
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore three weeks ago, when six construction workers were killed, raised awareness over bridge safety.
The crack was discovered last week during a mandatory inspection for high-strength steel bridges, required by the Federal Highway Administration, CDOT said. The inspection was mandated because of “known issues” with similarly constructed bridges.
The crack first appeared as a “rusted line,” before crews scraped off the paint and ground down the rusted area, Stefanik said. That revealed the crack, causing a “higher level of concern” and prompting CDOT to close the bridge to all traffic, including inspectors, Stefanik said.
Crews conducted “ultrasonic testing” to determine that the crack was inside the steel and not just on the surface, he said.
Inspectors are on site Friday but are unable to go on the bridge until it is determined safe to do so, he said. Inspectors will be looking at three taller spans on the bridge, located near the middle, he said.
“We felt that it was of utmost importance from a safety perspective to close this bridge so that we can continue our assessment and then make judgment calls later based upon that,” Stefanik said.
“It’s not a one-size-fits-all repair solution for this bridge.”
The repairs for the bridge, which was built in 1963, will depend on the severity of the defects and the type of repair methods, he said, without providing further details.
CDOT is also inspecting another steel bridge about two miles west of the Blue Mesa Reservoir bridge.
“Our focus right now is this bridge, and then we will focus on that second bridge,” Stefanik said. “But those are the only T-1 steel bridges in the state of Colorado.”
T-1 steel had been on federal transportation officials’ radar for years after a highway bridge made with T-1 steel was found to have several cracks before it was permanently shut down due to safety concerns in 2011, according to a technical advisory from the Federal Highway Administration. The bridge consisted of six lanes across the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana.
Officials determined that the cracking was likely caused by hydrogen that was introduced into the weld as a result of improper fabrication procedures, the FHA wrote, adding that T-1 steel is known to be very susceptible to that type of cracking.
The advisory “strongly” recommended that state departments of transportation and other bridge owners review the inspection records for bridges made with T-1 steel to ensure they were “regularly and appropriately inspected” and that any “critical findings” were identified and addressed.
It was not immediately clear when CDOT last inspected the bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir, but officials said the inspection was conducted on time and revealed no apparent safety concerns in a Friday briefing.
Recommended alternative routes
Jason Smith, CDOT's regional transportation director, said the agency is working to clear seasonal routes, many of which are gravel or dirt roads, to allow emergency vehicles and local traffic to pass.
“We know that the most significant traffic on those roads will create additional issues,” Smith said.
In the meantime, the closure will cause a significant detour for commuters between Montrose and Gunnison. CDOT has suggested two alternative routes for traffic — Interstate 70 and U.S. 160. Both routes add hours in travel time.
The northern route is 354 miles and requires about six hours of travel time. The southern route is 331 miles and requires nearly seven hours of travel time.
“Please know that we are treating this as an event with significance, not just to the counties who are immediately impacted but to everyone who travels through the area,” Lew said. “It’s something that we’re going to take with the utmost seriousness at the department.”
CDOT is encouraging anyone with questions about the closure to call the department at 970-648-4423 or email us50bridge@gmail.com.
