Work continues this week to repair the broken sewer that temporarily shuttered seven beaches from Rancho Palos Verdes to Orange County, including stretches of shoreline in Long Beach and San Pedro.
All pipe sections for the permanent repair of the collapsed sewer have been installed, according to an update on Monday, Jan. 9, from the Los Angeles County Department of Sanitation Districts.
Crews injected grout into the space between the outside of the new 42-inch diameter pipe and inside the old 48-inch pipe.
With that done, the update said, the “repaired section will function like a new, corrosion-resistant sewer.”
“All sewer flow is now routed through this repaired section of sewer,” a separate update, on Monday afternoon, said. “As a result, bypass pumping systems are no longer needed and are being disassembled. (Monday and Tuesday), crews will be backfilling the sinkhole area.”
Additional work will still be needed this week to finish the repair and restore the site, near the 110 Freeway at the 220th north offramp.”.
Carson has agreed to allow for expanded working hours on the new sewer in Figueroa Street that will replace the damaged one.
Replacing vegetation on sidewalk parkways is expected to take another two weeks, the Monday afternoon update said. Washing nearby residents’ cars should be finished this week.
The department, meanwhile, is continuing to monitor dissolved oxygen levels in the Dominguez Channel, which prior to the sewer collapse caused a stench that impacted some Carson neighborhoods. The levels continue to be normal.
Sections of repair pipe were delivered on Friday, Jan. 7, from Texas, three days earlier than anticipated.
The entire length of the collapsed sewer line — the 216th Street Relocation Trunk Sewer — also has been inspected for damage that may have occurred due to the recent large storms.
A segment north of the collapsed area and south of Carson Street will be added to the repair list.
The damage was reported the night of Dec. 30 and beaches were closed on New Year’s Eve, prompting San Pedro’s popular New Year’s Day Polar Bear swim at Cabrillo Beach to be canceled. That event was expected to draw a large crowd of participants this year after being canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic.
The various beaches that were closed reopened when bacteria levels in the water decreased to acceptable levels, with the Orange County the first ones to get the OK. Inner and outer Cabrillo beaches opened last week — though on different days — as did those in Long Beach.
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