# Pothole or Bridge Deck Failure?



## Ritchie503 (Feb 15, 2007)

This was a big story when in Denver this week, when they said 'Pothole closes 2 lanes on westbound I-70' this is not what I was thinking.

*Jumbo pothole slows I-70*

By Ann Schrader

Denver Post Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 02/13/2007 08:17:33 PM MST

*Golden* - A giant hole gaped open on a bridge early Tuesday, forcing westbound Interstate 70 traffic to one lane between West 32nd Avenue and Denver West Parkway.

Pieces of concrete fell from the bridge onto West 20th Avenue. No injuries or damaged vehicles were reported.

The 6-foot-wide, foot-deep crater in the bridge deck is receiving a temporary fix, said Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Due to cold, snowy conditions, workers will "jackhammer out the damaged concrete and do a repair and then come back at a later time and fix it again," Stegman said.

Concrete that is poured will have to be covered with blankets as it cures.

"Structurally, the bridge is fine," Stegman said. "The deck needs to be rehabilitated. It's on a truck route and has heavy traffic, and it gets harder use."

The right and center lanes were closed beginning about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Stegman estimated the repair work would take all day Tuesday and added that she expected all lanes to be open by rush hour this morning.

Stegman said the bridge has posed problems "for a while."

"This is what happens when we don't have money to rehabilitate the whole bridge," Stegman said. "It's an indication of what happens when we constantly put Band-Aids on bridges, and eventually, the Band-Aids fail."

Transportation officials say the state and municipalities will be short tens of billions of dollars in needed highway money over the next two to three decades unless voters approve new sources of road funding.

Without an infusion of money, the number of state highway lane-miles in "good/fair" condition could drop to 25 percent from the current 65 percent, and the number of bridges rated "poor" will increase substantially, according to a recent analysis by the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

Picture: [Alan Martinez, a foreman with the Colorado Department of Transportation, left, uses a sledgehammer to clear old asphalt and cement from a pothole before patching it, on westbound I-70 over 20th Ave in Lakewood on Feb. 13, 2007. (Post / Glenn Asakawa)]


----------



## cement (Feb 16, 2007)

I was thinking the same thing when I heard this on the radio. I would say a pothole is close to the size of a ccoking pot. I think that they were afraid of public reaction if they said the bridges were failing. But maybe that would get us some money to fix it?


----------



## Ritchie503 (Feb 16, 2007)

When I hear 'pothole' I think of a hole in the pavement that is on land... and nothing to do with a bridge. I saw it scrolling across the bottom of the news stations. I would think CDOT would keep talking about this event to get more money allocated to avoid situations like this... at least no one was hurt.


----------

