Travelers should expect traffic delays Monday on Colorado Highway 145 north of Dolores.
Crews will perform blasting operations beginning about 10 a.m., which will result in a 30-minute to 1-hour traffic stop. Before and after the blasting, travelers will continue to encounter brief delays.
Travelers are strongly urged to slow down and watch for workers and heavy equipment. Motorists should follow the guidance of a temporary, portable light signal and/or flagging personnel. No oversize loads are permitted until further notice.
On Friday, CDOT crews blasted a 200-ton boulder that fell on the highway near Stoner. A large portion of the huge boulder still remains on the roadway and requires blasting.
Todd Jones, of CDOT, said they drilled 25 holes in the original boulder with a rock drill where dynamite sticks were placed. Twenty of the holes were 6 feet deep, and five were 4 feet deep.
Sixteen pounds of dynamite was used to blow the boulder apart. The blast sent a plume of red dust high into the air, and scattered debris across the highway. Engineers suspect freeze-thaw action caused fractures in a cliff band that resulted in the rockfall.
