CORTEZ, Colo. — A pair of massive boulders rolled off a Colorado hillside and smashed into a highway, destroying the pavement and leaving the route blocked by a house-sized rock.
State transportation officials said Saturday that they would have to blast apart one of the rocks that settled on the road before it could be re-opened. The rock fall occurred along state Highway 145 between Cortez and Telluride.
A tweet from the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office stated that once the safety of the highway work area can be cleared of any potential danger, crews will likely build a shoulder to run a temporary single-lane around the rock slide.
CDOT’s maintenance division is developing plan to restore traffic flow. Once the safety of the highway work area can be cleared of any potential danger, crews will likely build a shoulder to run a temporary single lane alternating traffic operation. (3 of 3) #mfilm19 #rockslide pic.twitter.com/Kh12OE4PlG
— San Miguel Sheriff (@SheriffAlert) May 25, 2019
A photo posted by the City of Ouray showed a person posing in front of one of the boulders, which appeared as big as a two-story house.
The boulder on the highway is estimated to weigh 2.3 million pounds. The rock that crossed the highway and gouged out an eight-foot deep trench is estimated to weigh 8.5 million pounds.
