Cheyenne Mountain complex ready to face monsoon after $3.6 million in stormwater work
http://gazette.com/cheyenne-mountain-complex-ready-to-face-monsoon-after-3.6-million-in-stormwater-work/article/1521867
Cheyenne Mountain complex ready to face monsoon after $3.6 million in stormwater work
By Tom Roeder Updated: June 23, 2014 at 5:06 am
After $3.6 million and months worth of work, the underground Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center is ready for the monsoon.
The main entrance to the secretive underground complex was blocked by up to 12 feet of mud and debris Sept. 12, when 14 inches of rain hit the mountain in a day. Drainage systems that had worked well since the 1960s were overwhelmed.
And while the underground command center stayed operational through the storm, roads to get to it were blocked by mud, boulders and trees that washed down the mountain's near-vertical face.
"You can't fight it downstream, you have to fight it upstream," said Jason Cook, the complex's deputy civil engineer.