PRESS RELEASE Date: 10/25/13 Contact: Jennifer Finch, 970-336-7203 COUNTY CONTINUES TO CHIP AWAY AT ROAD REPAIR PROJECTS; WELD COUNTY ROADS 13 AND 61 NOW OPEN WELD COUNTY, CO – From September 12 through September 24, severe flooding caused the closure of approximately 160 roads throughout Weld County, affecting more than 650 lane miles of roadway including major agricultural routes such as Weld County Road 13 and Weld County Road 61. One month later, Weld County is proud to announce that only 10 county roads remain closed as Weld County Roads 13 and 61 opened earlier this week. “Getting our transportation system back in shape was our first priority as a county,” said Commissioner Sean Conway. “The flood hit during the start of harvest, and we knew that opening our roads as quickly as possible was going to help us avert a disaster within a disaster.” The Weld County Public Works Department, along with assistance from fellow Colorado counties and private contractors, has reopened 91% of the Weld County’s closed roads in just six weeks. Damage to county roads ranged from minor washouts on some gravel roads to complete destruction of portions of paved roads. “While a few roads required relatively minor repairs, roads such as 13 and 61 required a lot of work,” said Commissioner Douglas Rademacher. “Weld County Road 13, which is a significant farm to market route in south county, suffered tremendous damage not only to the road but also to the utilities located near the road. The coordination and effort put forth to complete temporary repairs on 13 is appreciated as farmers now have a way to efficiently transport their crops as needed.” Temporary repairs to county roads are the first step in Weld County’s infrastructure recovery. Because of the timing of the flood, weather and resource availability will make it difficult to complete permanent repairs this year. Weld County Road 13 Temporary Repair Summary: •This section of roadway closed September 12th between WCR 26 and State Highway 66 due to the St. Vrain River breaching its banks and creating a 300’ wide by 25’ deep cavern across WCR 13. This cavern exposed several utilities including gas lines, fiber optic lines and power lines. It also dislodged power poles, caused a 36” water main to come apart and a 30” St. Vrain Sanitary Sewer line to be destroyed. •A construction contract for the emergency flood repairs was executed between Weld County and Northern Colorado Contractors (NCC). The total contract cost for the 2013 Flood repairs just north of the 13/26A bridge was $727,075.00. It was a 14-day contract started on October 10th and completed on October 20th. •The speed limit is reduced to 35 mph on WCR 13 starting from about 1/2 of a mile north of the 13/26A bridge and about 1/2 of a mile south of the 13/26A bridge. This speed reduction is due to the temporary Central Weld Water District 20” water line running along WCR 13 west right of way and across the west side of the 13/26A bridge. Weld County Road 61 Temporary Repair Summary: •This section of roadway closed on September 13th due to flooding. The project consisted of road and bridge repairs on WCR 61 (north of bridge 61/54A) needed to return the road to pre-flood conditions. A small section of the road washed out adjacent to bridge 61/54B. North of that section, for approximately 2,000 feet, there was significant scour along the east side of WCR 61, including several hundred feet of roadway that had been completely washed away. •A construction contract for the emergency flood repairs was executed between Weld County and Roche Constructors, Inc. on October 2nd and the contractor was given notice to proceed on October 3rd. The Contract amount, including one change order, was for $1.24 million.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 15:30:48 +0000
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