Colorado Department of Transportation crews worked Thursday to blast apart and remove 75 to 100 tons of rocks that fell onto U.S. Highway 550 south of Durango.
The rubble was cleared from the roadway, and all three traffic lanes reopened about 4 p.m. Thursday, CDOT spokeswoman Lisa Schwantes said in an email.
The rocks came down about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday at Bondad Hill, about six miles north of the New Mexico line, striking a vehicle as they fell, said Capt. Adrian Driscoll of the Colorado State Patrol. The driver suffered minor injuries and did not require on-scene evaluation nor hospital care, said Scot Davis, community education coordinator with the Durango Fire Protection District.
This marks the second large rockslide on Bondad Hill requiring intervention by CDOT this year, with the first occurring Feb. 14. The earlier slide also required the use of explosives to reduce rocks to a size that allowed for removal. The slide deposited around 700 tons of debris onto U.S. Highway 550, and it required 70 dump-truck loads to clear.
A concrete wall put up after the February rockslide to protect the roadway during cleanup work in the spring was recently removed, Schwantes said. Crews followed the blueprint from the earlier slide and drilled into the larger rocks Thursday to blast them apart to aid in removal.
The State Patrol was first on scene Wednesday evening, and troopers controlled traffic until around 5:45, when CDOT arrived, Driscoll said.
Schwantes said CDOT crews will return to the area next week to continue the cleanup of rocks that were pushed to the side of Highway 550, and motorists should expect short delays during that work.
Also, CDOT will continue to monitor the area, and Region 5 engineers are enlisting the help of the agency’s geotechnical specialists to develop a long-term mitigation plan.
Luke Perkins is a Fort Lewis College student and an intern at the Durango Herald. Reach him at Lukep@durangoherald,com.
