Overview
- A 36-inch riveted steel trunk line installed around 1916 ruptured early Thursday beneath Sunset Boulevard, sending a powerful torrent downhill that flooded streets, underground garages and a Metro bus yard.
- Emergency crews methodically shut large valves to isolate the trunk, stopped surface flow by mid-morning, pumped roughly 195,000 gallons from the isolated 0.7-mile section and cut out a damaged 25-foot pipe segment for removal.
- By Saturday crews had installed and welded a replacement 25-foot section and began pressure testing the repaired stretch, with chlorination, inspection and final testing required before full service and permanent road repairs.
- The break created a sinkhole that swallowed two people who were not seriously hurt, left businesses and cars water-damaged, forced hard closures and Metro detours, and prompted on-site LADWP claims assistance for property owners.
- The failure has focused attention on aging infrastructure because the broken trunk was slated for phased replacement years from now and LADWP says it replaces only a small portion of its thousands of miles of pipe each year.