CDOT Settles With Design And Construction Firms Following 2019 Collapse Of Turnpike Lanes

(CBS4) -- The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced a settlement that was reached with three businesses involved in the design and construction of a section of major highway that collapsed in 2019.

CDOT will receive $14 million from Ames/Granite Joint Venture, HDR Engineering, Inc., and Kleinfelder, Inc.

Details of the agreement were not provided. However, in that press release, a CDOT spokesman stated the four parties "are pleased that the matter has been resolved without the need for litigation and look forward to future opportunities to work together."

A crack in the road surface was the first sign of trouble in July 2019. CDOT closed the eastbound lanes of U.S. 36 between the Wadsworth Boulevard and 104th Avenue/Church Ranch Boulevard exits.

As the agency worked on evaluating its cause, the crack grew to 200 feet in length, a sinkhole developed, and finally the retaining walls supporting the southern side of the elevated roadway gave out. Parts of all three lanes collapsed.

CDOT discovered a void in the road base and shifting soils contributed to the event.

Caissons were drilled to bedrock as part of the repair. High-density geofoam blocks were inserted underneath the new road.

The eastbound lanes of the highway - also known as the Denver-Boulder Turnpike - re-opened in October. In all, CDOT invested 20,000 man hours and $17.5 million into the highway's emergency reconstruction.

The $14 million portion of that total came via loan from the Colorado Transportation Commission's program reserve fund. CDOT, its spokesman stated, "will propose" returning the settlement money to that fund.

Ames/Granite was chosen for the Turnpike's express lanes expansion in 2012. That new stretch of highway went into service in early 2016.