Work on Sunset Boulevard Makes Progress

Sunset Boulevard was being readied for its closeup today, as repairs to an antiquated cast-iron main junction were completed.

But engineers “are taking one step at a time” and are not prepared to say exactly when the major road link across the north side of the UCLA campus in Westwood will be complete, DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo stressed.

Four hundred tons of sand and 540 tons of crushed aggregate base have been placed into the gaping pit that was scoured out by 20 million gallons of Owens Valley water that flowed from the 92-year-old pipes Tuesday, Ramallo said at midday today.

The backfill was done by workers who completed the work with shovels and hoses. At 11 a.m. today the day-and-night project “passed a major milestone” and was declared ready for the installation of a paving sub-base that will support the new Sunset Boulevard surface.

Under all that sits above the new, bolstered steel plating and concrete thrust blocks that have been installed and tested on the 36-inch water mains, Ramallo said. The pipes in the DWP system are being slowly pressurized and crews are patrolling the area for leaks.

DWP posted a photo of a “construction Zamboni” machine that was vibrating away on fill gravel, packing it in.

Ramallo said two “butterfly valves” -- weighing 4,000 pounds each -- were also placed on the nine decade old cast-iron pipeline, which splits into two pipes where it broke Tuesday.

The pipes endure huge water pressure as they connect Stone Canyon reservoir to the Westside.

Tuesday’s flood wrecked the wood floor at Pauley Pavilion, where the Teen Choice Awards were scheduled for next Sunday. The show was relocated to the Shrine Auditorium, organizers said.

Twenty million gallons gushed into UCLA facilities Tuesday, pouring into Pauley Pavillion, nearby underground parking garages full of cars, a medical clinic and other UCLA buildings. The water then flowed into flood control channels towards Marina Del Rey.

Roughly 900 vehicles were stranded in the garages, most of them dry but about 400 were left in standing water to varying depths. A fleet of tow trucks ferried the cars to another parking lot at the south end of the campus starting Friday.

Water-damaged vehicles were first be inspected by DWP insurance adjusters before leaving the parking structures, a process that continued Saturday and may continue several days.

Saturday, city staffers gathered at a parking lot at Wilshire Boulevard and Veterans Avenue to again fill out paperwork for reimbursement to students and employees whose cars and possessions were flooded.

DWP posted information about its claims process online, at www.ladwpnews.com under Hot Topics. Claims can be filed online at www.ladwp.com/claims, or by mail.

New floors are to be installed in Pauley and another gym, the John Wooden Center, and both would be ready by early November, UCLA officials said.

--City News Service

PHOTO Workers make progress on Sunset Boulevard repairs. Photo courtesy the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.