EL PASO COUNTY — There is concern that too many people are underestimating the extent of flood damage to roads in eastern El Paso County.
“We picked a vehicle up out of the river, or the creek bed,” said El Paso County Deputy Director of Public Works, Jack Ladley, “They ignored our road closed sign and drove right into a collapsed bridge.”
There is a list of closed roads posted on the El Paso County website.
The number is currently 19 but it is fluid and changing as more damage is found or emergency repairs make roads safe enough to travel.
There is a warning that there are many more damaged roads not on the list also requiring extreme caution.
"As we're seeing that water receding across these problem areas, we have to go back out and redo our damage assessments,” said Ladley, “So everything we've done so far is just a preliminary damage assessment.”
For example, the risk level for Spencer Road off Peyton Highway changed.
A hole spotted on the south edge of Spencer Road looks like it is safe to detour around using the north lane.
When the water receded crews found a cavern of erosion dropping close to ten feet under the pavement.
“[It] actually undercut the bridge embankment about three-quarters of the way across the road,” said Ladley, “You can't see it because the asphalt is still there, and it's still bridging it but anything with any weight would, would absolutely fall through.“
All county road crews have shifted to damage assessment and repair duties.
It is close to 150 people.
“There are some guys that have worked 14--16 hours a day, we’ve pushed them since June 12th,” said Ladley.
Click here to see the list of road closures.
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