Fossils turn up on I-25 work site

LOVELAND - Work at the Interstate 25-Crossroads Boulevard interchange may soon take a historic turn as officials expect to unearth fossils buried deep within sandstone at the site.

The fossil finds are thought to be the first uncovered on a city of Loveland roadway project in recent memory.

Frank Hempen, city of Loveland director for the $6.5 million project, this week said fossil samples already have been recovered during preliminary work at the northwest quadrant of the interchange.

"As part of the exploratory work we've already done, we did recover some thumb-size sea shells and small sea-life-type fossils," Hempen said. "We've already made the state paleontologist working with CDOT aware of the finds, and we've invited him up to be on site when we start nearing the sandstone layers."

In the new layout for the interchange, the northwest corner will be home to large retaining walls under bridges, Hempen said.

To construct the retaining walls, workers - in about two to three weeks - will dig down to sandstone and encounter more fossils, he said.

"We likely will find certain sea creature remains, and I'm sure the state paleontologist will want to take samples," Hempen said. "But I would be very, very surprised if we find anything that would significantly delay work at the site."

Finding fossils on large-scale projects such as the I-25-Crossroads Boulevard interchange is not uncommon in Colorado.

Recently, workers with the Regional Transportation District's FasTrack's program unearthed plant fossils thought to be about 66 million years old as crews prepared an area west of Sixth Avenue and Simms Street in Denver.

Officials from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science visited the site and identified the fossils as being from the time just after the dinosaur extinction.

For Hempen, finding fossils on large-scale projects is nothing new, having been involved with work in Kansas where prehistoric bison and a wooly mammoth femur were uncovered.

But finding fossils on projects in Loveland is novel, Hempen said.

In fact, the only unexpected interruption on a recent roadway project in the city involved some nesting birds, said Keith Reester, Loveland's director of public works.

During work on a project near Boyd Lake Road, officials had to skirt around a killdeer nest in the middle of the site, Reester said.

Work on the interchange began in August and is expected to be complete in 10 months, barring any serious delays.

"Right now, we're pretty much on schedule," Hempen said. "I don't know how much our recent weather will affect things, but as we stand now, we are making good headway."

Written by Kelley King, Loveland Connection.