FULL COVERAGE: Havoc on I-25

The Rocky

Published February 8, 2008 at 6:42 a.m.
Updated February 8, 2008 at 4:31 p.m.

6:38 p.m.

The first cars move through on the three repaved lanes next to the sinkhole.

6:25 p.m.

CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman has told the media the three northbound lanes are open. Trucks have arrived with temporary 45 mph speed limit signs. No cars have moved through on the lanes yet, though.

4:45 p.m.

Gov. Bill Ritter spoke to the media and praised the quick response of the two state troopers who first spotted water bubbling through cracks in the concrete and closed two lanes. He also credited the Denver Water and Colorado Department of Transportation crews for the work that they were doing to get the repairs made.

“The difficulty of their jobs is not appreciated," he said.

Ritter said he was encouraged that the use of the HOV lanes has kept traffic flowing.

Brian Good, director of operations and maintenance for Denver Water, described how the break came about. He said a fire broke out at a small electrical substation at 56th Avenue and Quebec Street,. which affected the controls of the water main. The crews there “pushed the red button” and shut down the pump at the station, but that resulted in the build-up of pressure in the pipe, which ruptured.

The ruptured section of the pipe was taken back to the Denver Water for analysis. In the meantime, the Denver Water crews were on their third rotation, and were hoping to have one section of the pipe “butt strapped” – a process in which metal bands are placed under and above the pipe ends and welded to connect the pipes. Another section of pipe, about 16 feet long will also need to be attached to the new pipe section, but more dirt will have to be excavated this weekend to put that part in.

“We just want to get out of the right of way of CDOT,” said Good.

4:25 p.m.

CDOT crews are close to reopening three of the regular northbound lanes. They need to make sure the asphalt has hardened sufficiently to do so. Reopening the lanes is expected to lessen somewhat the massive traffic jams people experienced yesterday.

3 p.m.

CDOT crews are laying stripes on the three newly asphalted left lanes of I-25 and traffic should be allowed to travel on them about 4 p.m., officials are estimating.

The new asphalt needs a couple of hours to harden before it's safe for drivers, and that hardening time line started about 2 p.m.

--Bill Scanlon

2:58 p.m.

Qwest lost a trunk line that serves a couple of dozen customers, said Bob Toevs, media relations director.

"Things are going very well, but we're moving very deliberately," he said.

Progress has been slowed because an earthmover keeps going back and forth over the ground on which the crew has to work.

"We hope to get to the splicing real soon," Toevs said. "Our goal is to be finished by Sunday."

Qwest needs to replace what is called an 1,800-pair line that stretches below the interstate.

--Bill Scanlon

2:38 p.m.

We're less than an hour from the official start of rush hour.

But if it’s a disaster unfolding, expect the politicians to show up and give it a look.

Gov. Bill Ritter is expected soon to visit the sinkhole.

How much is this costing his Department of Transportation? That’s not tabulated yet. But it’s costing another job some time.

Jalisco International, the contractor working on repairing the highway for CDOT, was pulled of a job nine miles north, building the new 128th Avenue overpass at I-25. Jalisco was picked under CDOT’s emergency contracting power because it already was nearby and mobilized with equipment and workers.

But the bridge job loses a few days’ work.

--Kevin Flynn

2:26 p.m.

Welders are attaching a butt-strap collar to a 22-foot-long replacement pipe for the one that burst Thursday afternoon.

"When we 'butt' the end of two pipes together, the butt-strap goes around the joint," said Brian Good, director of operations and maintenance for Denver Water.

Meanwhile, the three northbound lanes west of the sinkhole have been torn up, filled in and topped with fresh asphalt. All that remains is for the new asphalt to harden.

CDOT officials are hoping it will be ready for traffic by about 4 p.m. but are not quite sure if that will happen.

A crane should lower the 22-foot section of the new water pipe into the sinkhole in about a half-hour.

Welders will weld the pipe in place and then a quick-drying concrete will be layered onto it, providing protection and a good foundation for the road repair above.

Denver Water expects to replace another 38 feet of pipe to the east of the sinkhole, but that's off the interstate. So it's the first 22 feet that are crucial to letting CDOT contractors repair the road above and turn I-25 back to normal.

After the pipe is put in, crews will walk through, applying bleach and taking samples to make sure the pipes are clean enough to carry drinking water safely to customers.

"I'm not even going to speculate" how long the repairs will take, Good said. "We have crews set up through tomorrow just in case. We'll be here until it's finished."

Denver Water workers are working 12-hour shifts, eating sandwiches and chips from a van sent over by the utility. On breaks the workers from CDOT, Denver Water and contractors can run over to Burger King, Wendy's, Taco John's, Subway.

From observations at the scene, the favorites appear to be Burger King and Wendy's.

--Bill Scanlon

1:56 p.m.

Men in orange vests carrying flashlights are walking through the 5 1/2-foot-wide water pipes below I-25, searching for any residual damage from the burst water main that created the huge sink hole and shut down the northbound lanes of the interstate.

Denver Water crews have removed some 20 feet of damaged pipe and are about to remove 10 or 20 feet more. They’ve already wrapped chains around the replacement pipe from Northwest Pipe Co.

A crane with a 100-foot boom will lift and lower the new pipe into place. That’s when the welders and inspectors will get busy, making sure that fits are perfect so there will be no leakage.

Meanwhile, the paving is complete on the 150-foot stretch of highway that had to be repaired when the sinkhole caused the concrete roadway to buckle Thursday afternoon.

The aim is to get the three left lanes open by rush hour. The asphalt needs a couple of hours to harden.

The work on the pipe and the sinkhole is expected to extend through the night, possibly through the weekend. But, northbound traffic shouldn’t be terribly slow if the three lanes can open along with the HOV lanes, which will be open for all at no cost, at least until traffic gets back to normal.

--Bill Scanlon

1:28 p.m.

If you take the car pool lane detour northbound on I-25 while sinkhole repair work is going on ... BEWARE of a few things you might not realize until you try it.

CDOT is allowing traffic to use the car pool/toll lanes without paying while the emergency repairs are being completed.

The first is the most important: Once you get on, you cannot get off until 70th Avenue. So use it only if you’re headed through the segment. There are no exits. Northbounders on I-25 who slip onto the median lanes will miss the exits at 20th Street, 38th Avenue/Park Avenue, Interstate 70 and 58th Avenue.

Second, you can only get on northbound at two locations. From downtown, go to Coors Field on 20th Street, which is one-way northbound and where the car-pool lane starts to form on the right as you approach Blake Street. The gate should be open. The ramp takes you above all the traffic and over the highway and plops you down in the median.

If you’re already on the highway, stay to the left. The entry to the lanes is just after you go under that new space-age-looking pedestrian bridge at 16th Street.

You can get off at 70th, or continue straight as the lanes dump you back onto I-25’s regular lanes or fly you over to the Boulder Turnpike.

--Kevin Flynn

1:24 p.m.

At this very moment, the giant crane is lifting a 15 to 20-foot section of the damaged water main that includes roughly 3-foot-long section that burst yesterday, causing the sinkhole. It is being lowered onto a semitrailer.

--Bill Scanlon

1:17 p.m.

In 22 hours, CDOT crews have torn up 5,000 square feet of 16-inch-thick concrete, hauled it away, repaired a 150-foot stretch of highway with recycled gravelly asphalt and smoothed it out with 8 inches of new asphalt.

"Our job is easier than Denver Water's," CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said, as the last layer of asphalt went on the three left lanes of northbound I-25, closed for now because a burst water main created a 50-foot-wide sinkhole.

"We just have to bring in dirt and asphalt and get the road ready," Stegman said. "Denver Water has to remove the pipe, get the new one in, weld it, and make sure it fits perfectly."

Denver Water crews continue to remove some 30 feet of the damaged 66 1/2-inch-diameter pipe, with the help of a 140-ton crane.

CDOT's task is easier because the highway is closed, and workers didn't need to dodge traffic.

It's a temporary fix, with asphalt the only practical way to get the traffic back flowing in a short time.

In the spring, crews will return -- at night -- removing the new asphalt one layer at a time and replacing it with concrete, Stegman said. Industry standards require concrete, instead of asphalt, on roads like I-25 that get heavy loads of traffic.

--Bill Scanlon

12:43 p.m.

Finally, after more than eight hours of struggle, the first piece of damaged pipe in the sinkhole on northbound I-25 has been removed by a giant crane with a 100-foot-high boom.

The 2 1/2-foot length of 66 1/2-inch-diameter pipe lifted slowly in the air connected by a chain to the boom's hook about a minute ago.

There's about 30 linear feet of pipe that Denver Water plans to move from the sinkhole, which is 40 to 50 feet wide at its widest.

Crews with big circular saws spent hours today cutting through the steel and concrete of the water main.

Meanwhile, the paving on the three left lanes just west of the sinkhole is almost complete, but before drivers can use them the asphalt must harden, which could take two to three more hours.

The goal is to open the three left lanes northbound before traffic starts to get heavy about 4 p.m.

CDOT officials say the HOV lane will be open at no cost, as well as as many additional lanes as are repaired in time.

--Bill Scanlon

12:31 p.m.

House Democratic lawmakers said today the sinkhole crisis underscores the urgency for finding new funding to repair crumbling roadways and bridges.

“The sinkhole is just a symptom of our aging and frail transportation infrastructure,” said Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, a member of the transportation committee. “We can put a Band-aid on this, but more problems will arise unless we come up with a comprehensive solution. I hope we can create a solution before there is a loss of life.”

“Wow, a picture is worth a thousand words,” said Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West, chair of the transportation committee. “If those photos of the sinkhole don’t direct the state to maintain existing infrastructure, nothing will.”

But Gov. Bill Ritter stressed today that the sinkhole appeared to be caused by the broken water main -- not because the highway is falling apart.

Ritter said workers are moving as fast as they can to fix the sinkhole on I-25, but repairs will take a “significant amount of time.’’

While the massive hole in the interstate is triggering major traffic headaches, Ritter said commuters and emergency workers were actually very lucky.

“We’re very fortunate that there was not a loss of life,’’ Ritter said. “We have to ensure the integrity of the highway. We’re doing everything we can to open up lanes. It will be an ongoing situation.’’

Speaking generally, Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said later: “There is always a need to focus on our infrastructure, whether it’s water infrastructure or electrical utility infrastructure or transportation infrastructure."

Some Republicans have criticized Ritter’s call for the legislature to look at increasing auto registration fees to pay for a $500 million-a-year catch-up effort on Colorado's highway maintenance backlog. Ritter’s blue-ribbon transportation panel has explored a $100 average annual increase in the auto registration fee to generate the $500 million a year.

“To those who criticize our infrastructure proposals but offer no other options about what we need to do and how we could do it, I would say, ‘Explain your solution or explain the sinkhole,’ ” said Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, a transportation committee member.

“Until we do something about our infrastructure, more of these types of things are going to happen: with unknown economic, human and resources costs,” he added. “We're paying for it now -- we're just not paying for it in a way that's making progress.”

--Alan Gathright

12:26 p.m.

Gov. Bill Ritter said state highway crews are working around the clock to get the northbound I-25 open, but they also want to make sure the highway is safe before they let traffic resume.

Ritter said accidents like this are going to happen because it’s easier to locate and repair utilities under highways than if they were placed under buildings.

“We’re very fortunate that there was not a loss of life,” Ritter said.

--Associated Press

12:12 p.m.

While Denver Water crews keep trying to free the huge water main 12 feet below northbound I-25, a Zaxis 330 machine from Hitachi tears up another 600 square feet of concrete roading.

Directly north of the sinkhole, this section won't be finished by this afternoon's rush hour.

CDOT officials remain cautiously optimistic they can finish laying asphalt on the left three lanes of the northbound interstate just west of the sinkhole and have it hardened by 3:30 or 4 p.m.

The huge concrete-crushing equipment features a giant claw-like bucket that acts as a cruncher, scooper and hammer, breaking the double-bed-size chunks of concrete into manageable sizes for a front loader to haul away. The whole process of clearing 600 square feet of slightly damaged roadway takes about a half-hour.

The massive main still has not been lifted from the giant colossus of an abyss that is the sinkhole.

--Bill Scanlon

11:30 a.m.

A 100-foot-tall crane from Mountain States Crane is poised to lift the damaged 66 1/2-inch pipe from the middle of the sinkhole -- once Denver Water crews succeed in cutting the pipe free.

They've been at it since early morning with 14-inch-diameter circular saws, cutting through the 3/8 of an inch of steel and several inches of concrete liner.

They've already gone through a dozen or more cans of gasoline to keep the saws fueled -- plus several blades. A chain has been wrapped around the damaged pipe and is attached to the crane's hook.

Prepare for liftoff.

-- Bill Scanlon

11:24 a.m.

As some of you pointed out, the Rocky night crew wrote a gem on today's front page of the print edition: Car pool. Some of the early morning crew today were actually feeling sorry for the sinkhole and felt it needed a name. Some of their early entries were Sinkzilla and Grand Canyon of Denver. Another wag was wishing it had occurred three months from now, thereby opening the door for Sinkhole de Mayo. Share your suggestions in the comments below.

-- John Boogert

11:18 a.m.

The asphalt machines on northbound I-25 are on a roll. With a little more than four hours until rush hour, they're laying asphalt -- 20 linear feet per truckload along a 150-foot stretch of the highway damaged when a water main break buckled the concrete on the interstate.

A dump truck backs up to connect to the asphalt-laying machine, a cross between a military tank and conveyor roller, that simultaneously flattens, tamps and rolls the asphalt into place.

As the dump truck dumps, the entire apparatus moves slowly ahead, leaving 3 or 4 inches of smooth, almost good-to-go highway in its wake. Then the dump truck unhitches, moves out of the way and another dump truck full of asphalt hitches on.

Four-foot diameter rollers give the asphalt an extra flattening for good measure and the whole process begins again.

Each stretch needs three layers to get it even with the undamaged concrete highway, so a few dozen dump truck loads will be needed to finish the repair.

Stay tuned.

--Bill Scanlon

10:58 a.m.

Given some thought to your drive home? It looks like it could be touch and go as far as regaining full access of northbound I-25 for the afternoon rush hour.

So let us -- and other northbound commuters -- in on your secrets. Did your alternate route work last night? How long did it take you vs. the normal commute? Would you try it again tonight? Or will you try for the HOV lanes or some other route? Maybe you want to just move to Castle Rock? Or just spend the weekend at work? Post your comments below and let us know how you'll get there from here.

--John Boogert

10:56 a.m.

It appears I-25 won’t fully reopen today.

Just before 11 a.m., Denver Water put out word that repairs to its 66-inch water conduit that ruptured on Thursday won’t be complete today. That means CDOT can’t get in and repave all lanes of the highway at least until the weekend.

A 30-foot section of the pipe is being replaced and crews are working 12-hour shifts to do it. But right now, they’re still cutting out the old broken segment. A crane will have to lift it out before the new segment can be lowered into place and attached.

--Kevin Flynn

10:27 a.m.

The race is on to try to open northbound I-25 before the afternoon rush hour. A base course of recycled asphalt has been laid and smoothed on 100 feet of the highway just to the west of the huge sinkhole that closed down the interstate since yesterday afternoon.

Now CDOT crews have to fill in with 8 inches of black asphalt to make this stretch even with the concrete roadway. The asphalt work has just begun. When it is finished, it will take 2-3 hours for it to harden as it cools, said Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for CDOT.

She acknowledged that the time line will be close, but she is hoping three lanes of traffic will be open by rush hour this afternoon. A concrete barrier will be erected to keep cars away from the sinkhole itself, which begins just a foot or two to the east from where the asphalt is being laid.

The burst water line collapsed the roadway and buckled concrete and asphalt another 60 feet north of the sinkhole. Crews spent much of last night and this morning removing the buckled road materials and getting the roadway ready for resurfacing.

--Bill Scanlon

10:23 a.m.

Dennis Schroeder, the Rocky's photog at the scene, got up close to the hole and describes the work he sees going on there.

"The hole is probably about 100 feet in diameter now. They’ve dug it out on each side to expose the pipe. There's probably, I'm guessing, about 30 to 40 feet of the pipe exposed, and the workers are trying to cut a portion of it out to replace. They already have the new pipe on the scene.

"Some crews are doing excavating, other crews are bringing in large amounts of dirt and dumping it to be ready to cover this up again when they get to that point.

"But right now all they're doing is cutting this pipe open. The hole that blew out looks to be about, I would guess, six 6 feet by 3 feet.

"There are several hundred people on the scene, working on different things. It looks organized and there's definitely a sense of urgency. Still, I'm no engineer, but to me it looks like this is going to take a long time."

--Kevin Flynn

10:10 a.m.

Chas Chamberlin, the Rocky’s graphics guru, always comes in from Boulder on RTD’s Route BX, but this morning because of the closure, he could have been on the Gray Line tour bus.

"I got to see parts of town I hadn't seen in years," he said, after getting to the office here.

RTD spokesman Scott Reed said drivers have some discretion to deviate from routes in bad traffic - as long as they can do so without missing any scheduled stops. Some of the bus drivers who use the Boulder turnpike found themselves stuck in traffic at Pecos shortly before the highway merges into I-25.

So Chamberlin's driver, whose express route had no more stops to make before downtown, ditched the pike at Federal Boulevard and headed down to I-70, then east to Washington Street. From there he took the scenic route along the South Platte River on Arkins Court ("I'd never heard of Arkins Court!" Chamberlin said) and on to Denargo and Delgany Place, finally letting Chamberlin alight at Union Station on Wewatta Street.

--Kevin Flynn

9:41 a.m.

Graders and rollers are smoothing out the gravel base course of recycled asphalt on the left three lanes of northbound I-25, preparing the road for the application of asphalt. Some workers are using small shovels to break out the clumps to ensure that the new asphalt clings well to the surface.

"This is a temporary fix," noted CDOT resident engineer John Schwab. I-25 calls for a concrete surface but the asphalt solution is quicker, he said.

The clumps from the buckled roadway are a combination of concrete and asphalt.

Traffic southbound is still moving smoothly, and many are saying it's better than usual.

Because passers-by on the southbound side are unable to get a good luck at the crater, some of the normal curiosity slowing has been avoided.

--Bill Scanlon

9:30 a.m.

The latest from Mindy Crane at CDOT:

"Denver Water crews are in the process of replacing the water main and CDOT crews are preparing to begin the roadway repairs. There is still a great deal of work ahead, but crews are working extremely hard to get northbound I-25 reopened. The goal is to have three lanes reopened before the evening rush hour; however, there are many variables that can change the time frame. Even though we are working to get three lanes open, it is unclear if the repairs to the water main will be complete. In the meantime, all northbound motorists can still use the HOV/Tolled Express Lanes and alternate routes are strongly encouraged. Traffic has been flowing well on I-25, but there are reports of heavy traffic on the detour routes. "

--John Boogert

9:15 a.m.

John Schwab, resident engineer with CDOT, has been on the scene since 3:30 Thursday afternoon.

"You keep your truck heated and you drink a lot of coffee," he said.

Schwab said crews are just about ready to start laying asphalt on the left three lanes of northbound I-25.

Crews have laid recycled asphalt, which looks like dirt, onto the lanes after having removed the buckled chunks of roadway.

Schwab said 30 to 40 CDOT employees are on the scene, many of them having worked overnight. They get food when they can. Schwab said he ate at Wendy's last night and Burger King this morning.

"It's a challenge, it's a challenge for all of us, but we're more than happy to do it," he said. "We all have cellphones and are on call 24/7."

This is the first time in 24 years at CDOT that he's had to deal with a major water main break on a main highway, he said.

Kim Spickard, who works four blocks away from the sinkhole at Colorado Cabinet Coating, strolled over to the scene with a cup of coffee this morning.

"It couldn't have happened 20 feet to the east," he said wishfully, indicating a stretch that wouldn't have snarled traffic for more than 18 hours so far.

Actually, Spickard found a silver lining.

"There was no traffic driving home last night," he said, noting that he got onto northbound I-25 at 58th Avenue and had the highway to himself.

"I'm just suprised that no one dropped into that hole," Spickard said, staring at the gargantuan crater.

--Bill Scanlon

9:11 a.m.

The big pipe that caused big problems wasn’t even among Denver Water’s older conduits.

The average age of the water system’s underground pipes is 40.6 years, said Stacy Chesney, spokeswoman for the utility.

The oldest pipes near the center of town date back to the late 1800s.

“These things can last a long time,” Chesney said.

--Kevin Flynn

9:02 a.m.

CDOT’s losing some pocket change during the sinkhole repairs because it isn’t charging tolls in the ExpressToll lanes. The last monthly report, for December, showed there was a daily average of 10,766 vehicles using the two-lane facility in the I-25 median. Of them, 3,744 were toll payers and the others were car pools, buses or motorcycles.

The report shows CDOT took in an average of just over $5,100 a day in tolls in December. You can look at the report at http://tinyurl.com/34jxhw.

--Kevin Flynn

8:51 a.m.

From RTD’s perspective, the morning commute was relatively trouble-free despite the I-25 restrictions.

“We remained virtually on schedule throughout the morning,” said RTD’s Scott Reed. “I think people heeded the warnings and found alternate routes or left extra early.”

Perhaps some people came in earlier than normal to avoid the rush, or as one suburban traffic engineer said, they sneaked in a three-day weekend. In any case, no unusual problems were being reported on the north-south arteries in the northern suburbs that might serve as alternate routes.

--Kevin Flynn

8:49 a.m.

Road crews are making good progress, laying dirt where the asphalt was removed in the left lanes of northbound I-25. The huge sinkhole remains as Denver Water crews continue to try to free the damaged pipe with their circular saws. Crews may try to put asphalt over the dirt in the left lanes while they continue repairs on the sinkhole on the right side of the freeway.

--Bill Scanlon

8:25 a.m.

Nearly 2 percent of all the water Denver uses in a day spilled out into the sinkhole on I-25, says Denver Water.

The main that broke is a major conduit that takes water from the Moffat Treatment Plant near 20th Avenue and Kipling Street in Lakewood and carries it east across the metro area to 56th Avenue at Quebec Street in Commerce City. It was installed in 1978. At the point where it broke, it is about 66 inches in diameter.

Denver Water says some customers have low pressure but no one has yet reported being left dry in their morning showers. If you have no water, wrap a towel around yourself and call 303-628-6000 to report it.

A Qwest phone vault was damaged by water, as was the Callcom facility on Logan Street next to the break.

--Kevin Flynn

8:10 a.m.

Drivers seem to have made adjustments to their routines. Stacey Stegman from CDOT says she’s rarely seen traffic moving as smoothly as it is on I-25 at peak rush.

In Thursday evening’s rush hour, northbounders jammed almost every available artery. Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood was at a standstill headed north; Sheridan was jammed and Federal was bumper-to-bumper.

Those routes plus others such as Washington Street would provide relief for southbounders this morning.

But at 8 a.m., the Boulder Turnpike showed a lot of slowing down to below 35 mpg and I-270 eastbound from I-25 to the Stapleton area was averaging only 15 mph.

--Kevin Flynn

8:04 a.m.

The huge water main break and sinkhole is 50 yards south of CDOT’s gantry, where it electronically collects tolls from single-occupant cars. But even though there was some damage to underground Qwest lines in the big washout, CDOT says it is still receiving signals from the equipment on the gantry. While it’s not collecting tolls (”We turned that part off,” said CDOT’s tireless Stacey Stegman), the hard-count data is still being transmitted to E-470’s system. E-470 is under contract to CDOT to do the toll collecting through its electronic transponder system.

--Kevin Flynn

7:49 a.m.

Denver Water crews are making slow progress using 14-inch, high-speed circular saws to cut through the 66 1/2-inch-diameter water main.

The workers had to cut through 3/8 of an inch of steel wall and several inches of concrete liner to free the damaged pipe. The circular saw is shooting out an arc of sparks 3 or 4 feet long. Denver Water has about 60 feet of replacement pipe waiting to go on the shoulder of the highway. The new pipe is the same diameter and its wall are also about 3/8 of an inch thick.

Mountains of dirt 6 feet high and 20 feet across stretch about 100 feet along the highway, ready to be used to tamped into the massive hole when the repair work is done.

Southbound traffic is still moving nicely; if anything, a little faster and as high as 50 mph. The HOV lanes remain open in the northbound direction during the repairs.

--Bill Scanlon

7:39 a.m.

If you ride RTD’s frequent morning express and regional bus services from the north side of town or Boulder, expect some delays since the reversible bus/car pool lanes are commandeered for northbound traffic during the closure on the other lanes.

Buses including those from Wagon Road, 104th Avenue, Thornton and Broadway park-n-Rides and all the Boulder Turnpike bus routes that normally use the special lanes will have to slog it out with the great unwashed mass of commuters who usually jam the free lanes in the morning.

“Right now it’s only a couple minutes slower,” RTD spokesman Scott Reed said shortly after getting into his office at 7:15 from his own bus, the 120X, that leaves Wagon Road. But we know it will get worse. It will be a slow commute.”

CDOT in 2006 took over operation of the car pool lanes under an agreement with RTD to allow single-occupant cars to use them for a toll. The two-lane facility opened in 1994 funded largely with a Federal Transit Administration grant to allow free-flowing bus and car pool traffic during rush hours.

It usually flows southbound into downtown in the morning, and changes direction at noon after a two-hour turnaround time.

But the RTD/CDOT agreement allows for major events such as this to make changes to the flow, without penalty to CDOT. Under normal conditions, CDOT would have to pay a penalty to RTD if it slows down bus traffic. However, electronic tracking of all the buses so far since the toll lanes opened shows that bus flow has hardly been affected by the addition of solo driver cars.

--Kevin Flynn

7:28 a.m.

"We lost a 66 1/2-inch conduit -- number 94," Jenni Walcher, safety and loss control specialist for Denver Water said of the water break that caused the sinkhole Thursday afternoon. "We're trying to take the pipe out to put in the new sections. I can't tell you how long it's going to take. This isn't like a typical little main break."

"That's the thing about these main breaks," Walcher said this morning. "There's no warning, they just happen. It's a heck of a way to spend your birthday."

Dozens of orange-clad workers and yellow trucks surrounded the sinkhole as commuters drove on the southbound side of I-25 at about 35 to 40 miles per hour.

--Bill Scanlon

7:21 a.m.

Huge Track-Cat front loaders clawed at buckling asphalt on northbound I-25 this morning, dumping thousand-pound chunks into semitrucks, trying to clear the debris from a massive sinkhole that shut down the freeway Thursday afternoon. The repairs promised to create a traffic snarl for northbound commuters trying to leave Denver today.

Crews from Denver Water descended into the 16-foot-deep hole this morning, using huge circular saws to cut the 66 1/2-inch pipe that burst Thursday afternoon.

The massive hole crosses all lanes of I-25 just south of 58th Avenue and just west of Silco building.

Subcontractors for CDOT had to remove buckled asphalt north of the sinkhole itself, spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said. "We're bringing in fill dirt to stabilize the voids," she said. "We can't start paving until then."

She was reluctant to give a time line for when the work would be completed.

Stegman said the hole will be patched with asphalt instead of concrete.

Busy I-25 generally requires concrete because of heavy traffic, but asphalt was all that was available for the time being, she said. Crews will have to do some reinforcing work later after traffic is restored to I-25.

--Bill Scanlon

6:42 a.m.

Crews through the night to repair a 40-foot-wide sinkhole on Interstate 25 that closed down northbound lanes in Denver and backed up traffic for 10 miles during the Thursday afternoon commute. Denver Water and the Colorado Department of Transportation said they both needed about 4 more hours today to complete their specific repairs and hoped to have the road reopened before the evening commute.

"We're doing everything we can to get it open," said Mindy Crane, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation. "Best-case scenario is we're looking at sometime today."

Denver Water told CBS4 it had to remove a 20-foot section of ruptured water main and then replace it and fill in the hole around it. That was expected to take until 10 a.m.

After that, CDOT said it needed another 4 hours or so to repair the roadway, which means they were hoping to have the highway opened by 2 p.m.

Crews said that time line could change as the work progressed.

A similar sinkhole on Interstate 70 near Vail in 2003 took 11 days to fix.

--CBS 4 News

• February 8, 2008

  8:07 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Brad writes:

  this is going to take more than a few hours to fix and have up and running.

• February 8, 2008

  8:33 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  TonyB writes:

  I LOVE the Front Page caption. Really good!

• February 8, 2008

  8:47 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Yeah, why would they even say it could be open by morning. There was no chance for that. Better to get people prepared for the worst. My drive was not bad at all though.

• February 8, 2008

  9:04 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  reddog writes:

  Take note of all the overpaid city employees just standing around looking at it....

• February 8, 2008

  9:28 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  glowrock writes:

  Kiss off, reddog. Ever thought there are plenty of inspectors there to verify that everything is being repaired properly? There will also be plenty of inspectors there when the road surface is rebuilt in that section to make sure it's done properly. Would you rather huge repair jobs like this go on without anyone watching over the contractor's shoulders?

  This insipid anti-government at all costs rhetoric is dangerous.

• February 8, 2008

  9:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  reddog writes:

  you must have one of those cushy jobs for yourself glowrock, or probably no job at all

• February 8, 2008

  10:53 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  AliceH writes:

  E-470 and Northwest Parkway would earn some real goodwill if they'd waive fees on the loop around Denver until I-25 is back to full functionality.

• February 8, 2008

  10:59 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Marshdale writes:

  Reddog: You who think city, county, state, or Denver Water workers are overpaid, have no idea what you are talking about. By and large most public employees make less than those doing the same job in the private sector. You can look it up at the Beareu of Labor Statistics. Secondly there is good reason for them to be standing around at this point. They dont know how many other utilities are in the area, i.e. underground power. Power, water and flesh don't mix. Third if you have ever worked on a main break of this size you would know that the roadway could be undermined 100's of feet away from the actual break. It takes time to assess these matters. Remember the guys who were killed fixing a main break in Denver last year. Would you rather have them be safe or sorry? Get a Clue

• February 8, 2008

  11:26 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  glowrock writes:

  reddog has no freaking clue what he's talking about. I guess I need to mind my manners and stop feeding the troll now...

• February 8, 2008

  11:52 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dilligaf writes:

  I just knew we would hear from a stupid redneck con like sasquatch to blame a democrat for this. These clowns can't join in on any subject without it being a democrats fault. Last night I dropped an egg on the floor and I said to myself "THAT DARN HILLARY"!!!!!!

• February 8, 2008

  12:40 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  reddog writes:

  Point well taken Marshdale

• February 8, 2008

  2:47 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  FallyBerry writes:

  I agree, the front page head was awesome. Fantastic. Good one.

• February 8, 2008

  4:10 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Sure, Squatch, sure.

  Try again. Watch "Sicko" and you'll be beggin' to go to England, Canada, even Havana to get health care. We wait here in the US for months only to be denied basic screenings.

• February 8, 2008

  5:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Brad writes:

  AC you do not say where all these people wait for months what hospital I would not go there. If universal health care is so great why doesn't Moore move to one of these countries or citys and why did Castro go some where else if it so great. If you do not remember he left the country for medical help he did not stay in Cuba let alone Havana. People in England and Canada hate it does not work

• February 8, 2008

  6:15 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  forwhatitis writes:

  Is this about healthcare, or the water main rupture? Good grief, you politico egos need to get a life. It's not all about politics.

• February 8, 2008

  8:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Darwin writes:

  Marshdale: RMN 11/2007: "Colorado state employees already earn more than comparable workers in the private sector, and more than their counterparts in neighboring states." There was also another article addressing this issue several days ago but I don't remember where, so I can't reference it. The source of the article was also the Beareu of Labor Statistics. So much for statistics. Btw, I worked in the public sector and did make more money than most of my friends in the same industry and sure had better benefits. Saying otherwise just perpetuates the myth.

• February 8, 2008

  8:21 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  samsmargolis writes:

  Allow me to be the first to blame Bush and global warming for the sinkhole...

• February 9, 2008

  8:53 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Lowtaxequalsfreedom writes:

  The most difficult thing about government is that there is no price mechanism and no profit incentive.

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