Jan 11, 2018 2 min read

The cold weather shut down work for about a week, but it was not enough to completely stop crews from making preparations for the reconstruction of Interstate 70 east of Washington later this year.

Crews from Lane Construction, the primary contractor on the $118 million project that will rebuild the highway from the East Beau Street exit to the Eighty Four/Glyde interchange, are doing preparatory work. The westbound lanes will be constructed this year.

Work was halted on the project last week because of the frigid temperatures.

“We didn’t do much because it was too cold,” Scott Faieta, assistant construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation, said Wednesday. “It was too cold for the workers as well as the equipment.”

Crews were back on the job Monday, working in the median on drainage and excavation between the East Beau exit and the south junction with Interstate 79.

Excavation work also is continuing on a hillside on the eastbound side of the highway between a railroad bridge and the south junction, and just west of the Eighty Four exit off the westbound side, where the area is being cleared and environmental work is being done for the relocation of three streams.

Faieta said work this month and in February will not affect traffic unless there is a crash.

He said the project is about seven days behind schedule. Work on the reconstruction of the westbound lanes should begin in March, he added. The project is scheduled to be completed in October 2020.