When a scenic interstate in Colorado was built in 1963, it was considered an engineering marvel. But climate change is testing the limits of aging infrastructure, experts say.
Colorado Transportation DepartmentGLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — The flash flood roared down Glenwood Canyon with such force that it changed the course of the Colorado River. Torrents of mud, boulders as big as cars and toppled trees plunged down towering walls of rock carved over millennia.left a gaping hole in Interstate 70.
The physical alterations have led to road closures, hourslong detours, environmental disasters and economic displacement. And they have prompted hard questions about aging infrastructure designed decades before climate change moved to the forefront of public discourse. "We have this great confidence that this one thing will never fail. And then when it does fail, everyone runs around going, 'How did that happen?'" Chinowsky said."All it takes is one disruption, and you really have economic damage."
When the interstate is closed, traffic is diverted through Steamboat Springs, a town of 13,000 people about a three-hour drive from Glenwood Springs that is a gateway to some of the best skiing and outdoor activities in Colorado. Hundreds of semitrucks and tractor-trailers rumble through the downtown corridor lined with shops and restaurants, braking at the eight stop lights and belching exhaust fumes.
"We call these compounding and cascading events, where they build on one another and they produce very bad consequences at the end," Hoell said.
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