Construction Begins on Central City Highway

This fall the Central City Business Improvement District celebrated the construction start of the new $38.3 million Central City highway.

When finished next fall, the four-lane road will provide a quick, easy and scenic transportation option for drivers traveling to Central City and other historic mountain communities. The highway will be an 8.4-mile, four-lane highway from the Hidden Valley exit at I-70 straight into downtown Central City. The roadway will have a total paved width of 64 ft, including eight-ft wide shoulders on each side, and locations along the road for scenic pullouts. The maximum grade along the roadway is eight percent, similar to the grade on the eastbound frontage road of I-70 at Floyd Hill.

Estimated to take only 12 minutes from its I-70 exit into Central City during good weather, the new Central City highway has been designed to accommodate every type of visitor to the area. In addition to providing a modern, quick road for gaming patrons, the highway will also be a scenic route for tourists and skiers to travel to the local mountain communities.

The road is being constructed by the design-build team of Ames Construction and HNTB Companies. Previous Ames projects include initial construction at DIA, DIA taxiways, Highway 285 improvements and many other highway, railroad and airport construction projects across the country. One of HNTB's best-known Colorado projects is its engineering of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon.

State's Longest Concrete Arch Bridge Reopened

Local, county and state officials celebrated the reopening this fall of the historic Castlewood Canyon Bridge. The 57-year-old bridge was restored over a six-month period that included an 89-day closure of State Highway 83, south of Franktown.

The bridge had begun to deteriorate in the last several years because of age and water seepage. A majority of the rehabilitation involved refurbishing the concrete arches that cross the canyon, replacing of the concrete beams, columns and original bridge railing.

The Castlewood Canyon Bridge was built in 1946 for $148,000. It crosses Cherry Creek and was once called the "bridge to nowhere" because, for nearly 20 years after it was built, the south end of the bridge was also the end of SH 83.

Today, the structure is considered historic because of its unique arch design. It is the state's longest concrete arch bridge at 405 ft, and a popular sightseeing location for Castlewood Canyon State Park visitors. It is one of only six bridges of its type in Colorado.

Kiewit Western Co. was the prime contractor for the project.

$939 Million Power Plant Expansion to Begin

Westminster-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Tucson Electric Power Co. recently announced plans to proceed with the development of a 400-mw coal-based generating facility in eastern Arizona. The total cost of the project - which encompasses environmental upgrades on existing units - is expected to be approximately $939 million.

The new unit will be sited at TEP's existing two-unit Springerville Generating Station and is scheduled to be operational by December 2006. Bechtel Power Corp., a leading global engineering and construction firm, has been contracted to design and construct the plant under a turnkey, lump-sum contract.

Once built, Tri-State will lease 100 percent of the new unit and use 200 mw to serve existing load and projected growth in the southwestern Colorado and New Mexico portion of its service territory. The pulverized coal-fired unit will use low sulfur fuel supplied by Peabody Coal Co. from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. The coal will be shipped to the plant on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

Bechtel estimates that its project workforce will reach 900 workers during peak construction of the facility.

Extension of I-25 HOV Lanes Begins

The Colorado Department of Transportation has begun a project that will extend the HOV lanes on I-25. Currently, the HOV lanes end at 58th Avenue, just south of US 36.
Once the project is complete, motorists will be able to drive the HOV lanes all the way north to 104th Avenue.

In addition to the extension, the project will resurface northbound I-25 in asphalt from 70th Avenue to 84th Avenue and install new gates on southbound I-25 just north of US 36.

Castle Rock Construction Co. of Castle Rock is the contractor on the $6.1 million project, which should be complete by the end of September 2004.

Denver Area's First Biodiesel Fueling Center Opens

On Nov. 14, Blue Sun Biodiesel and Shoco Oil held a grand opening celebration for metro Denver's first biodiesel fueling center in Commerce City.

Shoco Oil Inc. is the largest locally owned petroleum distributor in Colorado and the third largest distributor of Texaco lubricants in the western United States. Shoco is a third-generation Colorado company, started in 1947. Its commercial customers include construction, mining and agricultural companies.

Blue Sun Biodiesel is a privately held agricultural energy company developing oilseed energy crops as well as production and distribution networks in the west-central U.S. Blue Sun will be building a 2.5 million gal.-per-year biodiesel plant in Colorado.

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