Denver, CO : Truck crash west of Eisenhower Tunnel shuts down I-70 in both directions on Tuesday, January 3rd 2017

The crash of a semi truck shut down a stretch of Interstate 70 in Summit County Tuesday night.

All lanes of the highway in both directions were shut down between Silverthorne and the Eisenhower Tunnel, according to the state Department of Transportation.The closure was announced at about 7 p.m. Tuesday and the reopening was announced around 1 a.m. Wednesday.The semi, which was heading west and carrying a load of large pipes, overturned about 4 miles east of Silverthorne. The truck missed using a runaway truck ramp, and the pipe spilled into the eastbound lanes, said Tracy Trulove, a CDOT spokeswoman.A pickup was forced down an embankment by the incident, and another vehicle also was hit. The driver of the semi and the pickup driver were taken to a hospital with moderate to minor injuries, Trulove said.

Several vehicles were struck by pipes — likely drilling or gasoline pipes — which were about 50 feet long. The crash took out about 500 feet of guard rail.

U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass also was closed Tuesday night by visibility restrictions because of snow, blowing snow and fog. The pass would be a way to bypass the tunnel closure, if it were open.

East of the tunnel along the I-70 corridor, U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass also was closed Tuesday night by a multi-vehicle crash about 5 miles west of Empire. Berthoud Pass reopened at about 9:30 p.m., CDOT said.

Source :
Truck crash west of Eisenhower Tunnel shuts down I-70 in both directions