While storm missed half of the state, all is not quiet on the western front

STATEWIDE – As this recent winter storm packed a direct punch to the central and eastern portions of the state, much of the western half, including the San Luis Valley, are down-right balmy. While Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance crews were out on 12-hour storm patrol shifts in the northern mountains and along the Front Range, most of their coworkers west of the divide were keeping busy with dry road activities.

“We’re catching up a lot of work we can’t get to when crews are plowing, or even when the roads are wet,” said Greg Stacy, deputy superintendent for CDOT’s Durango Maintenance Section. “And when things dry out in the spring, we need to focus much of our work on paving operations.”

Up and down the Western Slope, CDOT maintenance crews are able to tackle work items including:  filling potholes and patching roadways; repairing and reinforcing shoulders; repairing fences, signs and roadside delineators; clearing ditches and culverts; sweeping highways and bridges; picking up trash, and more.

Stacy adds that crews are taking advantage of the winter break by trimming some trees and shrubs along the roadside, creating safer clear zones and site distances for drivers. (Crews cannot do this work in the summer—from April through August—per the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.) CDOT’s Alamosa Maintenance Section crews are also finding plenty to do.

“We’re doing a lot more highway crack sealing while it’s dry,” said Ron Quintana, the area supervisor in Alamosa. “And we also have the chance to clean and service our vehicles and equipment before the next big storm.” Quintana says crews have also completed a three-day bridge repair project this week on SH 371 in Conejos County, a project they were not expecting to complete until this summer.

While some maintenance areas in the northwest (e.g., Glenwood, Vail) did see some recent snow action, this corner of the state is also getting some good dry-road maintenance attention.

“The ground in this area is pretty frozen, making it hard to do much in the way of ditch clearing or fence post replacement that may be possible in the valleys,” said D’Wayne Gaymon, CDOT Glenwood Area supervisor.  “When we have no snow, we repair potholes, signs, delineation; and we have been doing a lot of guardrail repairs recently.”

Also, this time of winter—when the waterways are running at their lowest—can be the best time to do some non-invasive debris clearing around bridge piers.

“For minor, off-shore work that does not require environmental clearances, this is a great time to clear debris around bridge piers,” said John David, CDOT’s deputy maintenance superintendent for the Grand Junction Section. “This helps reduce damage to the piers and provides some preventative flood control.”

While this winter has been relatively mild so far, CDOT maintenance crews are ready for that next storm—however big or small. But they’re not going to rest waiting for it. Here’s a sample of what crews accomplished during the past fiscal year (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.)

Maintenance Activities, FY 2011

During the 2011 fiscal year, members of the Maintenance Program staff tended to the state’s 26,000-plus lane miles by:

*    Repairing and maintaining more than 7.7 million square yards of roadway surface

*    Utilizing 203,728 tons of asphalt and 241,528 gallons of liquid asphalt in asphalt preservation activities

*    Striping more than 22,006 miles of roadway and creating 347,155 square feet of pavement markings using 1.2 million pounds of glass beads and 179,281 gallons of paint

*    Snowplowing, sanding, and/or deicing 5.7 million miles of highway

*    Managing 575 hours of road closures, at various locations statewide, due to snow events

*    Applying 234,788 tons of solid deicer (e.g., salt/sand, ice slicer) and 10.1 million gallons of liquid deicer to the highways

*    Repairing/installing 300,231 feet of snow fence

*    Disposing of 93,683 cubic yards of trash off the right-of-way with the help of 9,072 Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and another 6,325 bags of trash with the support of 48 corporate sponsors

*    Replacing and repairing 70,087 signs and sign posts

*    Replacing, installing, and repairing over 20.8 million linear feet of fencing along CDOT right-of-way

MAINTENANCE SECTION ACTIVITIES (PLEASE SEE SECTION MAP, BELOW)

The following provides just a snapshot of staff, equipment and activities within CDOT’s nine maintenance sections throughout the state for FY 2011. Crews’ round-the-clock work, however involves much more—maintaining signs over the road, culverts under the road….and everything in between.

Region 1, Aurora Maintenance Section

216 maintenance workers

420 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

4,726 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway)

1,194,000 lane-miles were plowed

4,465,464 linear feet of fence was maintained/inspected

6,734 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

71,829 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

452 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

39,718 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 1, Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels Maintenance Section

The Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnel (EJMT) crews man the tunnel and its control center 24/7, maintaining the facility; dispatching maintenance patrol crews to highway incidents from Vail Pass to Golden and from Berthoud Pass (US 40) to Hoosier Pass (SH 9); and coordinating with CSP, TOC and Hanging Lake Tunnels to keep the traveling public informed via numerous electronic variable message signs across Colorado’s central mountain, Front Range and eastern plains highways. This is a historical snapshot of EJMT:

49 full-time employees

10 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

300 million (nearly) vehicles through the tunnel since the Eisenhower bore opened on March 8, 1973

11,391,704 vehicles traveled through in the 2010 calendar year—or an average of 31,210 a day

50,918 record-high 24-hour traffic count (August 2, 2009)

226 emergency events responded to during the 2010 calendar year (stalled vehicles, fires, traffic collisions, snowstorms, etc.)

0 traffic fatalities in tunnel’s 38-year history

Region 2, Pueblo Maintenance Section

106 maintenance workers

500 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

1,750 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

628,209 lane-miles were plowed

2,096,319 linear feet of fence was installed

14,907 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

86,666 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

8,806 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

53,432 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 3, Craig Maintenance Section

102 maintenance workers

200 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

1,619 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

625,981 lane-miles were plowed

5,513,101 linear feet of fence was installed

779 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

56,365 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

168 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

11,449 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 3, Grand Junction Maintenance Section

170 maintenance workers

301 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

4,038 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

1,104,021 lane-miles were plowed

429,938 linear feet of fence was installed

7,434 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

107,150 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

3,353 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

20,520 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

24-Hour Traveler Information & Emergency Response: The Grand Junction Maintenance Section also includes the I-70 Hanging Lake Tunnel (HLT) control center in Glenwood Canyon. The HLT complex houses 33 employees (including fire and emergency response personnel) who work 24/7 to handle to tunnel and highway maintenance, respond to highway emergencies, dispatch 258 maintenance employees in the Section, and operate 140 variable message signs across the Western Slope, southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Region 4, Greeley Maintenance Section

224 maintenance workers

448 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

7,212 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

716,539 lane-miles were plowed

5,268,340 linear feet of fence was installed

9,128 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

70,095 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

43,320 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

38,025 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 5, Durango Maintenance Section

106 maintenance workers

244 maintenance/emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

107 pieces of snow removal and avalanche control equipment

1,750 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

405,867 lane-miles were plowed

844,514 linear feet of fence was installed

1,351 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

12,928 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

9,858 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

20,508 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 5, Alamosa Maintenance Section

97 maintenance workers

247 maintenance, emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

1,727 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

412,010 lane-miles were plowed

2,123,834 linear feet of fence was installed

1,704 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

79,199 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

5,400 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

9,575 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

Region 6, Denver Maintenance Section

209 maintenance workers

384 maintenance, emergency/snow & ice control vehicles

3,855 total lane-miles in the Section (the combined lengths of each lane on every highway in the region)

551,276 lane-miles were plowed

53,318 linear feet of fence was installed

53,672 cubic yards of trash was removed from state highway right of way

29,127 linear feet of metal guardrail was repaired

95,561 square yards of bridge deck repairs were made

11,641 tons of asphalt used to patch, overlay or level the roadway surface

The areas covered by CDOT’s Nine Maintenance Sections (headquartered in the cities listed above), are designated here by color (note, one of the nine—not shown by color—is located at the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnel on I-70, on the Summit-Clear Creek County line.)

Colorado highway information is available at all times on the cotrip.org website or by calling 511.  Updates also are offered via e-mail.  Please visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the cell-phone icon in the upper right-hand corner.  The link takes you to a list of subscription items.