On July 24, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced that Kraemer North America had been contracted to rebuild the severely damaged stretch of eastbound U.S. 36 in Westminster that caved in over the weekend of July 20-21 when the retaining wall failed, The Denver Post reports.
What began as a crack along a section of the eastbound highway’s surface, expanded to a 200-foot stretch Friday afternoon, causing the closure of one lane, but by Friday night, the remaining lane was also shut down. On Saturday, the large crack became a sinkhole. CDOT’s High Performance Transportation Enterprise is running the investigation and hiring independent experts to determine the cause of the failure.
According to CDOT, the rebuild will be streamlined through the use of Construction Manager/General Contractor, according to CDOT, which will “get the damaged road rebuilt as safely and as efficiently as possible,” CDOT officials told the news agency, adding that they didn’t have a timeline of price tag for the repair yet. After the design work is done, construction costs will be determined and replacement work will begin.
“We are pleased to have selected Kraemer so that we can transition to beginning permanent repairs to U.S. 36 eastbound,” CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said in a statement, according to the news agency. “We once again thank the public for their patience during the response phase, and as we shifted towards an interim traffic pattern over the past two days. Safety has been and remains our highest priority, and we remind travelers to drive carefully in this work zone.”