CDOT Hires New Contractor for C-470 Bridge/Broadway Bridge Girders Installed/Nature Conservancy and CDOT Partnering on Environment

Citing safety concerns, CDOT has terminated a portion of the construction contract for Asphalt Specialties Co. Inc. to improve the C-470/I-70 interchange.

CDOT to Hire New Contractor to Complete C-470 Bridge

The Colorado Department of Transportation has terminated a portion of the construction contract for Asphalt Specialties Co. Inc. to improve the C-470/I-70 interchange.

Asphalt Specialties and its bridge subcontractor, Ridge Erection, elected not to submit a girder installation plan that adhered to CDOT requirements for minimizing disruptions to travelers during heavy traffic periods.

Last May, a 40-ton steel girder collapsed from the northbound bridge near Golden into the eastbound lanes of I-70, killing a family of three. In August, CDOT amended its specifications for road and bridge construction to include new requirements for erecting steel and concrete girders.

The terminated portion of work includes completing the widening of the C-470 bridge over I-70, the extension of C-470 to 6th Avenue and the northbound C-470 ramp to westbound I-70.

"We have serious concerns regarding the completion of the C-470 bridge over I-70," said CDOT Chief Engineer Craig Siracusa. "Given the tragedy that occurred at this site last May, we believe it is in the best interest of the state to find a contractor who will complete construction of this bridge while balancing safety with the need to maintain the flow of traffic on I-70, one of the most heavily traveled highways in Colorado."

Asphalt Specialties will remain under contract to complete other remaining portions of the project, including the ramp from eastbound I-70 to northbound C-470, retaining walls and landscaping.

CDOT will re-bid the project in April and expects to have a new contractor on board and ready to start work the following month.

"There was significant interest in this project when it was originally advertised, with five contractors submitting bids," Siracusa said. "We're confident another experienced and capable contractor will be able to complete this work."

The $11.9 million project started in September 2003 and was originally scheduled for completion in spring 2005.

Asphalt Specialties' most recent construction schedule pushed completion of the project back to summer 2005.

Bridge Girders Installed on Interstate 25 Near Broadway

CDOT finished installing the 48 concrete girders that make up the center portion of the new Interstate 25 bridge over Broadway during the first week of March.

The bridge project is the third of four phases that will complete the entire Broadway bridge replacement project.

When the current project is complete, three lanes of traffic will be open in each direction, but all traffic will remain on the southbound bridge until completion of the final project, which will occur when funds become available.

The current $28 million phase will be finished by February 2006.

Nature Conservancy, CDOT Complete Model Partnership

The Nature Conservancy and CDOT completed in February the first of three voluntary property acquisitions designed to protect tens of thousands of acres of Colorado's shortgrass prairie.

The agreement is part of the Shortgrass Prairie Initiative, a joint effort to offset habitat loss caused by future transportation improvements while safeguarding large blocks of shortgrass prairie, home to a number of imperiled species.

The first acquisition - a voluntary land preservation agreement - protects approximately 2,400 acres west of Grover and adjacent to the Pawnee National Grasslands. The conservancy will work with landowners to ensure the preservation of the prairie and the continuance of traditional uses of the land.

Protection of the shortgrass prairie will help protect certain species of wildlife determined to be "at risk" of extinction by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as other species, including the mountain plover, burrowing owl, swift fox, ferruginous hawk and McCown's Longspur.

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