WELD COUNTY — At least 50 bridges have been destroyed or seriously damaged in flood-ravaged areas of Colorado, state transportation officials said Sunday.
The Colorado Department of Transportation expects that count — 30 bridges destroyed and 20 seriously damaged — to go up as waters start to recede and more structures can be assessed, said Joshua Laipply, state bridge engineer.
“We won’t know the full extent until the rain lets up,” Laipply said.
CDOT oversees all bridges in the state, and by the time inspection crews are done, they will have looked at hundreds of flood-affected bridges from the mountains to the plains, some more than once, Laipply said.
“Our No. 1 priority is to gain access to communities, so emergency services can get in and out,” Laipply said.
On Sunday, five crews — three from CDOT and two consultants — were out inspecting bridges as conditions allowed. More crews will be deployed Monday, Laipply said.
In Weld County, repairs were underway on Colorado 60 near the bridge over the South Platte north of County Road 46.
The bridge itself, inspectors determined Sunday, was in good shape, but the road on the north end had washed away, leaving a deep, impassable chasm.
The South Platte was well over its banks in the area, spreading far into surrounding fields and pastures.
Working under constant rain, crews hoped to backfill the hole with large rocks and gravel so the road could be repaved and the bridge reopened.
“This is a pretty classic failure,” said Chad Jackson, a professional engineer and bridge inspector for CDOT.
“When the water leaves the banks, it attacks the soft point — where the soil meets the hard surface of the bridge,” Jackson said.
The water has been moving so fast in streams and rivers that it is digging out the streambed, and that could undermine a bridge’s foundation, Jackson said.
“The bridges have fared pretty well,” Jackson said. “The roads approaching it, not so much.”
Laipply said, “We’ve seen this happen on individual bridges before, but it’s the magnitude.”
Emilie Rusch 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or
