Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Workers are creating their own dust storms through here today.

It's still hard to believe that there used to be nothing but a dropoff off of the right side of the road through here.

With the transition of the northbound lanes to the new C/D road planned to happen within the month, crews are preparing to raise this section to accomodate the new mainline 25 lanes.

This company's name will leave no doubt as to what they specialize in.

At the northbound Rockrimmon exit, which has been closed for a while.

The reason for the closure is simple: the new C/D road is lower than the exit. Crews has to cut out the exit to make room for the C/D road. The trucks here are parked on the former exit.

Work continues on the new mainline 25 lanes at the Rockrimmon exit.

The wall material to the left is where Rockrimmon will go through to the northbound C/D lanes. Soon, we'll see pillars sprouting up here, too.

Construction equipment surrounded by debris. Looks like the bridge removal is progressing nicely.

Lake Interstate has formed where the former southbound lanes once were.

The new slope to the southbound C/D lanes is smoothed, seeded and hayed.

The Rockrimmon extension to the southbound C/D roads is now paved.

Approaching the bridge complex on Mark Dabling. Looks like we're missing part of one now.

Yup, the old southbound lanes of this bridge are no more.

Another look at the parts of the bridge that are missing.

A look at the part of the bridge that has had the cement removed yet the steel beams are still in place. I like this pic!

A shot of the northbound C/D bridge demonstrating the height of this bridge.

At the Mark Dabling and (closed) Northbound 25 ramps.

Coming up on the old bridge. You can already tell things are amiss.

Great shot of the demolition in progress on the old southbound lanes.

Closer look at the rebar that is no longer holding much up.

Looking at what's left of the southbound lanes over the railroad tracks.

The overhead shot shows continued progress on the Rockrimmon exit.

Looking up towards the SB lanes from Rockrimmon. Traffic is visible now because it's on the new C/D road.

Approaching the bridge complex on Mark Dabling.

Construction equipment is all that the old southbound lanes will carry from here on out.

A shot of the retaining walls being installed. This is almost directly opposite the Rockrimmon/Mark Dabling intersection on the other side of the interstate.

Southbound traffic is now on the C/D road. Note that crews didn't finish pouring the cement fully.

A shot of what has become of the former southbound lanes.

Crews work on the northbound C/D road bridge while traffic is temporarily routed onto the old southbound bridge over Monument Creek.

Coming up on the Rockrimmon intersection of the C/D road. We also see where the northbound traffic is detoured.

At the Rockrimmon intersection. Even though crews are working away at paving between here and Mark Dabling, I don't believe this exit will be opening any time soon.

Heavy equipment is in place to demolish part of the bridge over Mark Dabling.

Coming up on the "Rockrimmon Curve," we see that crews have already removed the asphalt from the old southbound lanes but have left all the temporary barriers. Odd.

Another shot of the curve.

We start to shift back over to the former mainline area, which has already been poured in cement.

Coming up on the Rockrimmon curve, we start to get a feel for how wide the interstate will be through here once construction is complete.

Crews are in place to clear out the old southbound roadway.

Approaching the overpass over Mark Dabling, we see this warning.

Equipment has been moved into place to remove part of this bridge.

Another shot of the equipment brought in for bridge removal.

The northbound Rockrimmon exit is now closed and is not expected to reopen until September 26.

Northbound traffic has been shifted over to the old southbound lanes. This is so crews can install a temporary bridge for the southbound Nevada exit.

Unlike the last time traffic was over here, we get a paved crossover.

Curving onto the southbound lanes, while southbound traffic uses the new C/D road.

Rolling along northbound on the southbound lanes. For more pics of this detour, check out the Corporate Centre Page.

Northbound traffic exiting at Rockrimmon has to deal with heavy equipment entering the ramp.

At the intersection of Mark Dabling and Rockrimmon looking south.

Smoothing the slope between 25 and the western frontage road. (Rusina Road)

The overhead shot shows significant work has been made since the last overhead shot.

Looking at the new southbound C/D lanes. The guardrail and the streetlights are now installed...

... and the painting has started. This pink color is pretty much a normal for every new bridge installation in the area.

Looking at the new southbound C/D road as it approaches Rockrimmon, which is right on the other side of those trees.

At the intersection of the SB C/D road and Rockrimmon. Rockrimmon will eventually extend under mainline 25 where the orange safety fence is now.

All that's left is to pour the curved part of the cement. And create the extension, obviously.

Another look at the future intersection.

On Mark Dabling approaching the bridge complex.

Where old meets new.

Just a few months ago, this is where northbound I-25 traffic would exit to reach Rockrimmon via Mark Dabling.

The monthly overhead shot.

Looking over the new SB C/D bridge over Mark Dabling.

Looking at the new NB C/D bridge over Mark Dabling while headed southbound.

How'd they get that into the hole? :)

The C/D bridges over Mark Dabling and the tracks won't have the usual metal railings: they're equipped with cement barriers. The fencing will be in place over the tracks.

A closer look at the new bridgework.

Approaching I-25 from Mark Dabling.

The NB C/D bridge is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

At the intersection of the NB 25 onramp and Mark Dabling.

Looking at the SB C/D bridge from under the original mainline bridge.

Crews are building a drainage culvert in between Mark Dabling and the Interstate. This is about 250 feet south of where the original SB offramp to Rockrimmon was.

Bouncing over a temporary cap on the road.

Remember that beaten up Mark Dabling sign from a few updates back? It's still floating around here.

Approaching the interstate heading southbound on Mark Dabling.

Closer to the new SB C/D bridge.

At least there's no butt crack.

Another shot here just 'cause I like it.

Looking down the SB C/D ramp.

Looking at where the NB C/D road lands after Mark Dabling. Compare this to this picture, taken in just about the same spot.

Looking at the new NB C/D bridge over Mark Dabling.

One thing about those cylindrical cones: they're easy to carry.

The noise of the jackhammer was amplified by the bridge: this was quite loud through here today.

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you the world's most useless stop sign! Why, you may ask. Well...

... NB I-25 can't exit here anymore! That stop sign stops traffic on the main road only.

This is where the C/D retaining wall stops on the NB side.

This is where the temporary Rockrimmon exit was. It's been closed until mid-summer to allow for cement paving.

I suppose you could sneak through here if you really needed to exit here, but why bother? The next exit is only a 1/2 mile ahead!

Aerial view. Construction is progressing nicely

Walls are up on the southern approach to the new offramp bridges.

Looking down NB 25 right at Rockrimmon.

At the NB merge. The better shots of the new bridge supports are on the Corporate Centre page.

The NB exit to Rockrimmon has been moved "downstream" for a bit.

The land between Monument Creek and Rockrimmon has been cleared for the new NB C/D road.

Funny, there used to be an exit here...

In order to speed construction, the NB lanes cross over to the SB lanes overnight. Here's where they cross back.

The old onramp is now an emergency pullout

The pullout is being used today. Also note that the girders are in place over Mark Dabling.

Just a nice shot. No real reason for it to be here. :)

All of the signs have not moved from their original locations.

At the temporary Rockrimmon exit. There's no advance warning that this is the exit now. Probably not a good thing.

The highway jerks hard to the left, so the natural (and original) movement is to exit here.

There's a sizable accel lane for the merging traffic, too.

Approaching the temp. NB Rockrimmon exit from Tech Center drive.

This is pretty well marked from Tech Center.

Right at the intersection. Looks like Stop signs are enough traffic control for here.

Looking up the ramp. Seems to me that those lights would be a major distraction at night.

The detour is marked this one time, but it's enough: next major intersection is Rockrimmon.

There used to be a deep gully where this dirt is now.

Another shot of standing where there used to be air.

Looking at the progress on the SB C/D road's landing point.

Rockrimmon's WB side has been closed to aid in utility removal

There's enough room here since no traffic goes straight anymore.

No onramp exists here anymore.

Only casulaty so far on this project is this Mark Dabling sign.

On Mark Dabling approaching the new SB C/D road span.

About to go under the new bridge. Crews are placing the girders today.

What is this supposed to be (except the spot where there will soon be a retaining wall)?

A shot of the new launching point of the NB C/D road. You've seen this from the I earlier in the pics.

Because of the girder installation, Mark Dabling is a one-lane road at the time of this snap.

Awaiting the next girder.

Approaching Rockrimmon. Losing a lane NB here causes some backups

Perspective of how much dirt is being moved for this project.

Heading west on Rockrimmon. The SB 25 ramps are to the left at the next light.

Showing where the old SB exit was and what's happened to it since the last time it was open.

That's some big caution signs on the supports.

The parade of cement trucks assisting the pour of the deck of the bridge.

I call this "Construction in the Pikes Peak Region". Reprints are available.

Check out the new retaining walls over the edge of the road! Check out the urban artwork!

Approaching the detour to the new cement.

This will probably be where the temp. Rockrimmon exit will be. See my updates page for info on this.

Working away...

Overhead of the Rockrimmon/Nevada area. See the updates page for more info on this pic.

Back on Tech Centre drive, which will be the new SB 25 access point for Rockrimmon within the next few weeks.

At the new SB offramp intersection. No word on wether this will be signalized or not.

Now that's a tall retaining wall!

A shot of the gap the crews need to fill to complete the SB C/D road.

This is the last shot of this interchange. It closes within the next few weeks.

On Mark Dabling. There's a retaining wall back there somewhere.

See? Told ya there's a retaining wall back there!

A shot of the panels being delivered.

Geez! Can't we have anything nice around here?

Bright sun + big truck + narrow road = white knuckles.

Just after that tight curve in the last snap, we're moved over to new concrete that was placed in the median.

And where the lanes don't all fit on the cement, the crews have improvised.

More warnings about the closed offramp.

Look in the background: the onramp has been shifted.

This week's shot of the bridge pillar construction from NB 25.

Just after the NB merge. No, we're not seeing an accident in the making here. It's a crew truck.

You know, the exit sign really isn't important to the crews, but the motorists may need it...

Crews have made their own road off of the western frontage road between Rockrimmon and Garden of the Gods.

Since this will soon be the home of a merging SB C/D road, I suspect this will be filled in soon.

Where the trucks merge back onto the frontage road.

Like a modern-day Stonehenge, eh?

Utility work continues on Mark Dabling.

The NB onramp has definitely been shifted. The new strip of asphalt used to be the median.

There's no indication on the offramp that this has tightened. I'm betting we'll see a few head-on's here.

How tight is it? That graded-off line used to be the right-hand stripe on the offramp--going the other direction.

This part is actually better than the original: wider turning radius.

Bridge pillars are sprouting all over the place!

Another shot of the sprouting pillars. This is right before the Mark Dabling/R.R. bridge headed NB.

Just after the NB 25 onramp lives this crane

When there's nowhere else to store stuff, close the shoulder!

The plastic behind the guardrail is covering the new pillars for the SB C/D road over Mark Dabling.

Another shot of the covered pillars. The new bridge will be higher than the old mainline roadbed.

Quite narrow SB lanes. This section has already seen its fair share of speed-related accidents.

Aerial shot shows the continued construction of the C/D roads.

On NB Mark Dabling approaching the NB 25 ramps

Bridge pillars continue over the railroad tracks to the west of Mark Dabling.

The last pillar looking southwest. I-25 is where that white SUV is.

The median pillar on Mark Dabling. Cool perspective shot.