Transportation work replacing $1.78 million in lighting and concrete pavement are underway as part of the initial work needed to reopen the Green River tunnel since a fiery, fatal, multi-truck accident closed it down four months ago.
The repairs are among the first steps to restoring the tunnel on Interstate 80, which serves as a major transcontinental east-west highway that stretches from California to New Jersey. The westbound tunnel has been closed since the explosive 26-vehicle crash on Feb. 14 that resulted in the deaths of three people. An extensive amount of repair and reconstruction remains before the tunnel can reopen to traffic, state highway officials said.
“We wanted to get a jump on two big jobs while our designers work on the plan for repairing the tunnel walls,” said Stephanie Harsha, Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) spokesperson. “We are still shooting to have that tunnel open before winter.”
What And At What Cost
The Wyoming Transportation Commission awarded the emergency contracts during a special meeting on May 27. The larger of the two contracts, worth $1.03 million, was awarded to Holophane, a major manufacturer of indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures.
Harsha said removing and replacing the lighting will be “a big job." The tunnel's lighting and electrical systems were compromised in the crash.
“They’ll be removing all the interior lighting infrastructure and the infrastructure conduit that goes with it,” she said. “We have a pretty good idea of the extent of the damage, and this needs to be done.”
Tunnel lighting is expensive. When WYDOT replaced the lighting inside the 3,200-foot-long U.S. 14/16/20 west of Cody, the longest tunnel in Wyoming, it cost over $5 million.
The second emergency contract, worth $753,550, was awarded to DeBernardi Construction, a Rock Springs contractor. They’ll be responsible for removing the damaged lighting system, repairing concrete pavement, and media blasting the undamaged sections of the tunnel lining.
According to Harsha, these are the jobs that can be completed in anticipation of the extensive tunnel lining repair. These contracts will help WYDOT expedite the reopening of the westbound tunnel by its pre-winter deadline.
“DeBernardi started work this week,” she said.
Nothing To Be Salvaged
Rob DeBernardi, vice president of DeBernardi Construction, confirmed that they’ve been taking down all the existing electrical components, bracketry, lights, and conduit on the ceiling of the westbound tunnel. He said the damage to the lighting system was so severe that the entire tunnel will need a new electrical system.
“The lights and bulbs were totally incinerated, for lack of a better word,” he said. “There's almost nothing left of the light stuff. After the crash, even the concrete on the walls was burnt to a crisp, so the whole electrical system is complete garbage now.”
DeBernardi Construction helped set up the concrete barriers that closed the westbound tunnel and rerouted traffic through the eastbound tunnel back in February. When Rob got a tour of the westbound tunnel before any work started, even he could tell the electrical system was beyond salvation.
“There were no wires inside the conduits because the conduits were totally burned through,” he said. “There's nothing to be salvaged. It’s all burned up.”
Replacing the electrical and lighting systems is beyond the purview of DeBernardi’s emergency contract. Once they’ve gutted all the infrastructure, they’ll proceed with the concrete pavement repair and media blasting.
“Once that electric conduit and bracketry is off the ceiling, we can start our pavement repair,” he said, “We’ve got a lot of concrete repair in different places, and instead of waiting until it was all designed and then given a contract, WYDOT thought they’d get a jump on the preliminary work. We’ll get started on the concrete as soon as the electrical components are down.”
Work Before Winter
After assessing the damage to the Green River Tunnel, WYDOT estimated it would take six to eight months to complete repairs and reopen it. They’re still holding to that deadline.
WYDOT crews and consultants have conducted several inspections of the tunnel, including LiDAR scanning, to assess the extent of the damage. Engineers and designers are working on the repair plan based on those assessments.
“We won't have any final costs until our designers complete the design for the repair,” she said. “We should see that design by late June and open it for bids in early July.”
Harsha said traffic impacts should be minimal, if there are any at all. Two-way traffic has been rerouted through the eastbound tunnel since February, and it’s outside the scope of the repair plan.
Harsha affirmed that WYDOT wants the westbound tunnel open before the 2025-2026 winter season begins.
“We are still shooting to have that tunnel open before winter,” she said. “Of course, many things come into play, whether or not you know what the design looks like, but we're still working towards getting it open before winter.”
DeBernardi said the work they’re doing through their contract will make it easier to open the tunnel. When Holophane starts replacing the lighting system, they won’t be held up by other tasks.
“All this work has to be done once the tunnel opens,” he said. “What we're doing is just getting an early jump on the work that can be done now. Then, when WYDOT figures out all the new designs and the whole electric system, they can get right to it.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
