A long-sought goal to fortify the Via de las Olas bluffs against dangerous erosion began last week, when City of L.A. workers began digging a trench that will house a massive new steel bulkhead there. But construction there hit an early snag this week. Workers with the city’s Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Street Services broke an 8-inch clay sewer pipe while they were verifying the locations of existing utilities and surveying holes to be drilled for the 59-ft. steel bulkhead piles, according to department Spokeswoman Lauren Skinner. Bureau of Sanitation crews responded ‘immediately’ to the break, but during the repair, the pipe leaked, Skinner said. As much as 600 gallons of sewage spilled, according to Gerald Watson, a district supervisor in the Wastewater Division of the Bureau of Sanitation, who managed crews that responded to the spill on Tuesday. The eight-inch sewer line must be re-routed before bulkhead piles or beams can be installed there, according to the department. ‘There is no adverse effect to the bulkhead project schedule or budget for re-routing the eight-inch sewer around the location of the interfering bulkhead pile,’ Skinner said. Completion of the project is expected by the end of December. As reported by the Post, the city rejected bids from private contractors last May, choosing instead to use in-house workers at the Bureau of Street Services (BSS). In June, engineers said that its forces were ‘able to construct these bulkheads quickly, cost effectively and with a high standard of quality.’ By Tuesday, BSS crews had dug a five-ft. deep trench that extends approximately a dozen feet beyond the current wooden bulkhead or retaining wall. Once complete, the new bulkhead will be buried underground, running 500 ft.’many times longer than the current bulkhead’and spanning six homes between 15251 and 15205 Via (between Lombard Avenue and Friends Street). The only improvements that will be visible above ground will be a new curb and gutter, asphalt patching adjacent to the curb and a new metal vehicular guardrail, according to engineers at Public Works. After nervously watching the edge of the bluffs move closer and closer to their houses for decades after winter storms, residents are relieved to see construction begin. ‘People are pleased that they are starting to take care of this,’ said Bill Moran, who lives at the corner of Via and Lombard. ‘But it’s 55 years in the making.’ In the 1950s, acres of the bluff collapsed under the strain of wet weather and the resulting landslide crossed Pacific Coast Highway onto the beach. Since then, residents have lobbied for better protection with few signs of progress until 2005–when an especially wet winter brought more land movement. That year, with the help of Congressman Henry Waxman, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) awarded $2.6 million toward the $3.5-million project. The city and state are dividing the remaining cost. Although construction plans were approved by the city in 2006, work could not start until the delivery of 61 large steel piles last week from a single supplier in Arkansas. Piles vary in length between 59 and 60 feet, and each weighs more than 11,387 pounds. The storage of those piles, a large tractor and other construction equipment along the bluff has disquieted nearby residents, who worry that equipment and supplies will destabilize the already weak bluff. ‘[I am] thrilled that the project has begun but stunned that the heavy equipment and steel beams are stored on the bluff itself rather than the street,’ wrote Via resident Regina McConahay to a city official by e-mail. ‘This is just what the engineers advised us against doing’that is, allowing vehicles or any other weight off road.’ Said Moran: ‘My concern is whether or not that was a decision that was made by an engineer or the guy delivering [the beams] in the truck. They’re probably going to sit there for months.’ Public Works’ Skinner told the Post that those fears are not justified. ‘The location of the lay-down was made to minimize the impact to the local residents. The lay-down is to be used for a relatively short period in order to facilitate construction. We are in a period of relatively dry weather, when the stability of the area is not impacted by serious rainfall.’ —– To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
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