- Steel Girder Collapses onto EB I-70 at C-470, EB I-70 Closed
May 15, 2004- I-70 is closed in both directions at C-470 after a steel girder collapsed onto the eastbound lanes of I-70 and landed on a SUV. Stegman said the girder weighed several tons. The girder was put up Tuesday as part of a project to widen a ramp that leads to I-70 from Colorado 470, she said. The beam remained connected to the concrete ramp at both ends, with the middle draped across all three lanes of the highway. The crushed remains of the car were beneath. The girder that fell was not a support girder, CDOT says. Traffic on C-470 over the accident is getting by.
Note: there have also been two train derailments in Colorado the week preceeding May 15. One in Denver, a freight train derailed near Coors Field. The other one was in the mountaions, said to be caused by a rock slide. Colorado is on the Continental Divide.