Workers breaking up boulder threatening above I-70 in Colorado

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:39 a.m. MST

Associated Press

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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Workers are breaking up a huge boulder threatening to tumble down a cliff onto Interstate 70 in western Colorado after a rock slide that closed the highway indefinitely.

State officials say they hope to dislodge the boulder Wednesday and then decide when they can reopen some lanes.

The boulder is 20 feet in diameter and 900 feet above the highway. Workers will break it apart with compressor-powered drills hauled to the site by helicopter.

A 17-mile stretch of I-70 has been closed since Monday after the slide rained boulders onto the road and punched gaping holes in an elevated section.

Authorities say a woman commuting to work in northwest Colorado was killed Wednesday when a boulder fell on a car about 60 miles north of the I-70 incident.

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