VAIL, Colo. — Crews with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) on Thursday delivered materials for a first-of-its-kind avalanche and rockslide fence to a hilltop near Mile Point 186 in eastern Vail. The fence is a key component of their I-70 West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes Project.
“Sometimes, when we get a big slide, it'll run all the way across all four lanes of the interstate, and we'll have to spend five or six hours to clear that volume of snow,” said John Kronholm, the resident engineer for CDOT.
The West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes Project, which began in 2021 and is expected to take five years to complete, will include improvements such as lane widening, bridge replacement, and the installation of new avalanche fencing. This fencing aims to passively mitigate avalanches, reducing the need for active mitigation measures like detonation.
“The idea behind the fence is that it's going to eliminate the need for active avalanche mitigation by triggering the slide. So, this is all passive avalanche mitigation,” Kronholm said.
The fencing being installed is unique to Colorado. It is the first time CDOT will install fencing that mitigates both avalanche and rock slide.
“It has not been used anywhere else. And it might be unique to the entire country as well," Kronholm said.
The hope is that the new fencing will keep the roadway open during winter storms, ultimately minimizing traffic disruptions caused by avalanches or planned detonations.
“The installation of this avalanche fence is going to make CDOT operations and maintenance go a lot smoother in the wintertime, and we're going to be able to keep the roadway open a lot longer,” said Kronholm.
Delivering materials to the mountainous location of Vail Pass is a challenge on its own. So, how do you get fencing to the top of a rocky cliff? Helicopters. Helicopters and a few brave souls scaling the rock face to secure the delivery.
Denver7 was there to witness the amazing feat.
“We've just spent a few weeks performing rock scaling up here and today, we've had helicopter operations to bring in all the materials to start the foundations and the anchor installation for the fence,” Kronholm said.
The installation of the fence will continue through the summer, and CDOT officials said it will be operational by winter.
State transportation officials added there will be one more planned traffic hold in September to complete the delivery of the fencing materials.
If you'd like to find out more information about the I-70 West Vail Pass Auxiliary Lanes Project, you can visit CDOT's website.
If you'd like to receive text updates about driving through Vail Pass, you can text "vailpass" to 21000. Or, call 970-688-8233.
