There won’t be any remote-controlled avalanche mitigation on Berthoud Pass this winter.
After two years of , the Colorado Department of Transportation in April began advertising for companies to install a Gazex remote avalanche-control system in a slide-prone gully that threatens U.S. 40 on the east side of Berthoud Pass. The system was to be the
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But no bids met the department’s .
“Our plan is to re-advertise the project before year’s end so we can have someone under contract by spring — and installed next summer,” said Peter Kozinski, CDOT’s engineer in charge of the project.
CDOT typically drops explosives from a helicopter or fires 105mm Howitzer shells to ease avalanche danger in the notorious Stanley slide path, which crosses U.S. 40 twice on Berthoud Pass.
The Gazex system would allow highway managers to trigger propane-fueled blasts of compressed air into avalanche paths remotely and regularly, reducing the threat of catastrophic, road-burying slides. CDOT wants five Gazex exploders in the Stanley slide path.
The Gazex project on Berthoud Pass is planned as a pilot that could lead to more system installations across the state. Highway departments in Wyoming, Utah and California use Gazex exploders above mountain highways, and the systems are popular in Canada and Europe. There are about 2,000 of the French-made
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jasonblevins
