Traffic Flow On Highway 36 Expected To Return To Normal Next Week
(CBS4) -- After months of repairs, traffic on Highway 36 will return to its original configuration. Part of the retaining wall failed on the eastbound side in July, between Wadsworth Boulevard and 104th-Church Ranch Boulevard. The slope failed and eastbound lanes cracked and collapsed over the following days.
Eventually all the traffic was moved to the westbound lanes.
The Colorado Department of Transportation used more than 100 concrete caissons, drilled down to the bedrock, and thousands of blocks of geofoam to rebuild the slope.
"Geofoam is lightweight, but very strong, and reduces stress and pressure to underlying soil," CDOT stated. "It safely supports large volume highways and improves slope stability."
The geofoam was topped with a load distribution slab, also made of concrete, and a layer of crushed stone, then covered with concrete pavement.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, crews will close a single lane so they can take the final steps to get all three lanes in both directions open again on Thursday.