Rockfall Update - US 550 Red Mountain Pass

January 26, 2014 - Southwestern Colorado/CDOT Region 5 - Crews installed nine rockfall netting panels Sunday, work continues into the week.

OURAY COUNTY – Sunday crews installed nine rockfall netting panels atop the large rock debris field 900 feet above US 550. With a possible 28 more panels to place, this installation will continue Monday and Tuesday.

Weather permitting, progress each day is expected to be even swifter than today. Once all netting is placed, rockfall crews can better determine any necessary follow-up mitigation on the slope and adjacent to the roadway. Rocks continue to fall onto the roadway, outside crews’ work. US 550 between MM 87 (Ironton Park, 17 miles north of Silverton) and MM 92 (south of Ouray) remains closed into this week. Rockfall experts will announce a reopen date as soon as possible.

UPDATED INFORMATION: Briefs and photos are posted on CDOT’s Media Room page at http://www.coloradodot.info/news/media-room.html and full press releases, which have been issued each night after the end-of-day briefing meeting, are posted at: http://www.coloradodot.info/news/statewide-news.

ALTERNATE ROUTE & INFORMATION: Travelers will use the following highways for an alternate route: SH 62, SH 145 and US 160. For information on other CDOT projects, the public may call 511 or log onto CDOT’s traveler information web site at www.cotrip.org. Better yet, sign up to receive email and/or text messages by going to CDOT’s web site at www.coloradodot.info and choosing the green phone icon in the upper right corner.