A lot is happening on the US 550-US 160 Connection South project, and we’ve got the dirt! Currently, much of the excavation work is taking place at the north end of the project, between Gulches A and B, to the tune of 500,000 cubic yards of material. Excavation here carves the path for the brand-new US 550 alignment north of La Plata County Road 220, which will connect to the current US 160 interchange that lies 120 feet below. 

A total of 1.2 million cubic yards of material must be dug up along the entire project, and much of it will be very useful. About 900,000 cubic yards will be re-used – that’s 300 Olympic swimming pools of material. 

The usable material, after being crushed, will be laid back down as road base to build the four miles of the new US 550 alignment between US 160 and CR 302. Some material will also be reused to build embankments along the shoulders.  

We hope you dig our latest update video, starring the project’s design-build manager, Dave Morris, of Lawrence Construction.  

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/0ZZ5BUjjoeA