VIDEO: Colorado Makes Driving Safer With 105 Millimeter Howitzer

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

No, the State of Colorado isn’t blowing up grandmas for doing 10 mph under the limit in the left lane. But the state’s Department of Transportation is keeping people safe by clearing avalanches with World War II artillery.

Armed with a 105 mm howitzer — possibly an M101A1, though please feel free to correct us — the Colorado DOT clears avalanche prone areas by shooting shells up to 7 miles away into the mountain tops. Those shells have a secondary charge that explodes on impact to trigger a controlled avalanche.

According to KOB4, the howitzer, which the state leases from the U.S. Army, was recently used to clear the Red Mountain Pass in Colorado’s high country. The guns were set up on concrete pads along the pass and aimed at strategic targets in the war against insurgent snow.

Let’s hope the state doesn’t set these up at DMV offices in the off season.

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

More by Mark Stevenson

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 15 comments
  • Chopperjamie Chopperjamie on Feb 07, 2016

    The Washington State DOT has a two M60 tanks and a howitzer they use for avalanche control. One is stationed on Stevens pass and one on Snoqualmie pass. The one at Stevens is parked at the Wellington Trailhead. It is always amusing to take people for a hike an pull into a parking lot in the middle of the forest with a tank parked in the middle.

  • RideHeight RideHeight on Feb 08, 2016

    Pfft... I could make driving much safer for *me* with just a roof-mounted minigun.

    • Dantes_inferno Dantes_inferno on Feb 08, 2016

      @RideHeight: Pfft… I could make driving much safer for *me* with just a roof-mounted minigun. Never bring a roof-mounted minigun to a Howitzer fight.

  • JimC2 JimC2 on Feb 08, 2016

    More effective than yodeling in the Alps.

  • Energetik9 Energetik9 on Feb 08, 2016

    Looks like a M101A1 to me although I was never an Artillery guy. I think the military still uses these for ceremony and I think it started as a 105mm in WWII. It would make sense for these purposes.

Next