State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

These 12 Miles of Interstate Highway Are Among America's Most Unforgiving

Route Fifty: When it comes to highways that regularly cause headaches for state transportation agencies, the 12 miles of Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado’s mountainous Western Slope region are among the most unforgiving in the entire nation.

Interstate 70 passes through the steep, narrow canyon about 150 miles west of Denver via a series of 40 bridges and viaducts, tunnels and other road structures. The engineering challenges—30 million points of structural steel, 30 million pounds of reinforcing steel and 400,000 cubic yards of concrete weighing 1.62 billion pounds were required—made it the final section of the original Interstate Highway System completed.

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