SH 39 north of Goodrich to close March 16 for permanent flood repair
The work will remove and replace damaged roadway as well as the temporary emergency repairs of the roadway and will include the installation of riprap slope protection and a concrete box culvert. The detour for the closure will use SH 144 around the project area.
The closure will last for approximately two weeks and all of the work on SH 39 is expected to be complete by mid-April, 2015.
Background:
SH 39 in Morgan County, provides direct access between I-76 and the town of Wiggins, north to the town of Goodrich. Two miles north of Goodrich is Jackson Lake State Park, accessible indirectly via SH 39/SH 144. During the floods of September 2013, SH 39 sustained minor damage at three locations within the South Platte River floodplain between mileposts 6.8 and 7.5, affecting two bridges and the town of Goodrich. Flood waters exceeded the banks of the South Platte River eventually rising enough to overtop the roadway, which weakened the pavement. On the south end of the Town of Goodrich, the roadway was washed out across a width of 300-350 feet.
Emergency (Temporary) Repairs
The damaged roadway, shoulders and embankment were repaired as well as overhead and underground utilities.
Permanent Repairs
Long-term repairs will include removal and replacement of pavement overtopped by flood waters, repair of damaged utilities, removing and replacing temporary pavement installed during Emergency Repair and repairing and/or replacing damaged Right-of-Way fencing. Ground adjacent to the roadway that was disturbed during Emergency Repair will be re-vegetated with native grass seed and mulch.
One of the goals in the repair process is to introduce certain betterments (improvements beyond bringing the road to standard) to roadway facilities that were damaged and make them more resilient to similar storm events in the future. Analysis of the damage caused during the flood event led to certain design elements being incorporated in an effort to prevent or lessen the severe damage that significant flood events can cause. At this site, steps will be taken to ensure the roadway has additional high water relief to handle large storm events.
Stay Informed:
The best way to stay up to date on project progress and impacts is to sign up for email and wireless (text) alerts. Go to CDOT’s website at www.codot.gov and click on the envelope in the talk bubble in the lower right corner of the page. Enter your information and choose “General News- Floods” under the “Colorado Flooding” list.
Visit the project website at https://www.codot.gov/
