Crews blast 200-ton rock with dynamite on Colorado highway
A roadway in Colorado is finally cleared after CDOT blew up a giant boulder blocking vehicles from passing through.
The rockfall occurred on CO 145 just north of the small community of Stoner at Mile Point 27 last Friday, February, 5.
No vehicles were involved in the initial rockfall, but the boulder blocked a significant portion of the southbound lanes of the highway. The San Miguel Sheriff’s Office tweeted a photo of the rock with a caption describing it as “a large boulder the size of a large boulder.”
The tweet has since gone viral, with over 50K retweets and thousands of responses to the oddly obvious caption.
On Friday, February 5, crews performed initial blasting operations, posting footage on CDOT’s Facebook page.
“Much of the blasted rubble was pushed aside, but a portion of the 200-ton boulder remains on the roadway and additional blasting must be performed,” stated CDOT in a Facebook post.
Watch the blast below:
⚠️TRAVEL ALERT⚠️ CO 145 north of Dolores
Crews will begin blasting operations at approximately 10 a.m., tomorrow (Monday, 2/8), which will result in a 30-minute to 1-hour traffic stop. Before and after the blasting, travelers will continue to encounter brief delays. Please allow for extra travel time!
🎥 Check out the initial blasting operations that occurred last Friday. Much of the blasted rubble was pushed aside, but a portion of the 200-ton boulder remains on the roadway and additional blasting must be performed.
#SWCODOT #MontezumaCounty #SanMiguelCounty #SlowForTheConeZone #WholeSystemWholeSafety
Posted by Colorado Department of Transportation on Sunday, February 7, 2021
On Monday, February 8, crews performed a blasting operation that began at approximately 10 a.m. It resulted in a 30-minute to 1-hour traffic stop.