Heavy rain slows construction projects on the Western Slope

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Rain on the Western Slope in the first five days of November has exceeded typical levels and affected local construction projects.

The area has received more than half an inch of rain in that time, nearly five times what is typically expected. The area also had heavy rain in October. The rain may help with the drought but can affect ongoing construction.

Wet soil halts work Josh Springer, the construction group manager with Mesa County, said crews have had to take days off because the site was too wet to work.

“We’ve actually had to pull off some days just because it’s too wet to work in. Their heavy equipment would get stuck in the mud,” Springer said.

Projects often require soil to be compacted to a specific density, which is difficult to do when the soil is wet.

“No matter how much we want to compact it, you can’t compact wet soil. It has to dry and unfortunately there’s not very many methods to dry out the soil other than sun and wind and pumping the water out,” Springer said.

Standing water can remain on a construction site for days and weeks after rain ends, continuing to affect construction.

“Even a day like this, it’s sunny and we’re not experiencing any more rain, but our soils are still muddy. There’s still standing water in some of the areas,” Springer said.

Rain damages finished work Weather can also damage parts of a project that are already finished.

Springer described damage to the Orchard Avenue project.

“The contractor had built a dam to divert the water around their job site. And no matter what we try to do, Mother Nature’s always going to win. This creek came up approximately 5 feet of water in less than an hour and washed out a portion of the dam. So the crews now are digging that all out and repairing that work and getting everything back to the way it needed to be,” Springer said.

Mesa County projects In Mesa County, the two projects most affected by recent rain are the Orchard Avenue and 32 1/2 Road improvements.

The county says the challenges will not affect project budgets, but they could push back completion dates.

The rain can also deteriorate temporary roads used by residents in the area.

Heavy rain slows construction projects on the Western Slope

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