Highway 12 Reopens near Weston

May 25, 2012 - Southeastern Colorado/CDOT Region 2 - LAS ANIMAS COUNTY – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has opened State Highway (SH) 12 to through traffic after it was closed late Wednesday when a crack developed on the deck of the Purgatoire River Bridge, approximately one mile west of Weston.

A one-lane, gravel detour now is in place parallel to the bridge, with a 20 mph speed limit in effect. Signals are alternating eastbound and westbound traffic through the detour, with an average stop time of one minute or less.

Shortly after CDOT closed the bridge, a two-foot section of the deck broke off. No individuals or vehicles were on or under the bridge at the time when the portion fell. Most of the existing bridge remains intact.

The bridge was built in 1925 and work was underway to replace it. For the duration of the project, the old bridge will remain closed to traffic. The detour will continue to be used until the new bridge is opened to traffic, currently scheduled for October 2012.

CDOT engineers still are working to determine what caused the failure.

Travel information regarding State Highway 12 and other state highways is available on the cotrip.org website, by calling 511 or via subscription e-mail. To subscribe, 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 items you can subscribe to, including Southeast Colorado.