Dive Brief:
Kiewit Meridiam Partners found computer errors were responsible in part for flooding a low-lying portion of I-70 that nearly submerged cars as heavy rain slammed Denver this summer.
The contractors were tapped to design, build and maintain the 10-mile, $1.2 billion Central 70 project that runs through northeast Denver. Drainage systems did not perform as planned on the newly opened roadway and the pumps did not kick on automatically like they were supposed to amid an Aug. 7 flash flood. Firefighters had to rescue 11 people from vehicles, according to the Denver Post, but no one was injured.
Kiewit is looking into the incident, and found technical errors were responsible for the pump problem. “Our investigation of the August malfunction determined that computer settings that manage the pumps were set incorrectly,” said Matt Sanman, spokesperson for Kiewit. “