Featured State
Thank you to our 2023 Featured State!
Featured State Session
Introduction to Colorado DOT and it’s Structures Program
Michael Collins, State Bridge Engineer, Colorado DOT
Introduction to Colorado DOT’s Bridge Program and the State Inventory
Statewide Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise
Patrick Holinda, Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise Program Manager, Colorado DOT
In 2009, the Colorado State Legislature formed the legacy Bridge Enterprise to address the growing population of poor-rated bridges statewide. Subsequently, the Enterprise’s scope was expanded to address the growing repair and maintenance backlog at Colorado’s complex tunnel facilities in 2021. This presentation will explore how the Enterprise has been leveraged to improve Colorado’s bridge performance and safety through the adoption of program management best practices and use of innovative contracting, project delivery, and materials.
Tunnel Asset Program
Tyler Weldon, Tunnel Asset Manager and BTE Deputy Manager, Colorado DOT
In 2016, CDOT developed a tunnel specific asset program to create a category to fund needed capital investment. The on-system tunnel network has 20 tunnels and 37,494 linear feet to manage. The program leverages the NTI inspection data to determine the life cycle of the assets, determining the owner and operation need, and in supporting the asset modeling to create capital project lists. CDOT will share lessons learned on asset management development and strategies to identify and prioritize investments.
Environmental Compliance and Managing Historic Transportation Assets
Keith Farquhar, Senior Structural Engineer, Mead & Hunt; Dianna Litvak, Senior Historian, Mead & Hunt
Historic bridges and highways are an important asset at CDOT. CDOT has conducted multiple statewide historic bridge surveys and a statewide highway inventory to help identify significant CDOT-owned transportation resources. This session will feature highlights of the historic bridge program and efforts to identify and document the state’s exceptional highway features, including segments of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon and over Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel. This session will feature some of CDOT’s historic transportation assets, and efforts to preserve them through the environmental compliance process.
Denver Metro Mega Projects Central 70/Floyd Hill
Robert Hays, Deputy Chief Engineer, Colorado DOT; Stacia Sellers, Major Projects Strategic Communications Lead, Colorado DOT; Stephen Harelson, Chief Engineer, Colorado DOT
Crumbling bridges that no longer meet the demands of traffic on some of Colorado’s most highly traveled interstates pose serious disruptions to the economy, emergency response and surrounding communities. CDOT is addressing these concerns not just by reconstructing infrastructure, but also by bringing communities to the forefront. This presentation will discuss how two of CDOT’s major projects are addressing structurally deficient bridges while ensuring minimal impacts to the public and environment, and adding unprecedented community commitments.
Colorado Grand Ave Bridge
Roland Wagner, Central Program Engineer, Colorado DOT; Clint Krajnik, Principal Bridge Engineer, RMS Mobility, Inc.
The Grand Avenue Bridge project is nestled in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the historic resort town of Glenwood Springs. Delivery of this project involved extensive community collaboration throughout the environmental, design and construction phases which resulted in improved connectivity and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists, architectural design elements which connected the character of the historic districts on each side of the bridges, and new public gathering spaces on the pedestrian bridge and a plaza under the new highway bridge.
Glenwood Canyon Resiliency
Roland Wagner, Central Program Engineer, Colorado DOT; Stephen Harelson, Chief Engineer, Colorado DOT
Colorado’s mountain roads are vulnerable to extreme weather and conditions like fires, mudslides, avalanches, and rockslides with I-70 through Glenwood Canyon being no exception. In 2020, Glenwood Canyon was hit by the Grizzly Creek fire, which paved the way for debris flows in 2021, each event closing I-70 for days. This presentation will explore the complex engineering responses used to reopen the interstate safely.