Sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard: broken water pipe floods LA-area hotspot | Los Angeles
A century-old water pipe buried under a busy boulevard in Los Angeles County burst early Thursday, sending water gushing into streets and snarling traffic as many major thoroughfares were closed.
Rupture of 36 inch riveted steel pipe left A protruding sinkhole and cracked pavement in West Hollywood. Afterimages showed local metro buses partially submerged in murky brown water.
No injuries were reported, according to the city’s mayor, John Heilman. “As far as we know, all of our residents are safe,” he said at a news conference Thursday, adding that there was no immediate need for evacuation.
“We know these road closures and traffic impacts are disruptive, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as crews work to stabilize the area, assess damage and begin repairs,” Heilman also said in a statement.
David Hanson, interim general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), said residents have clean drinking water.
Authorities do not yet know what caused the pipe to break.
Anselmo Collins, LADWP’s chief operating officer, said at the news conference that the agency installs and replaces about 45 miles (72 km) of pipe annually. “Unfortunately, sometimes there are parts of the pipeline where you come across a weak point, and when these types of leaks occur, this becomes evident,” he said.
He added that water pressure usually rises at night when fewer people are using it. “Everyone is asleep. So normally that’s when you see the water main break happening,” he said.
Collins did not offer a timeline for repairs and said officials were working to close smaller valves and assess the situation.
Flooding affected the lively Sunset Strip, where restaurants, bars and shops are located.
Dialog Cafe, a popular brunch spot, has been temporarily closed after sustaining “significant damage” due to a water outage, the restaurant wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “We don’t yet know exactly when we will be able to reopen.”
At the press conference, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass cited the pipe rupture as evidence of why the city needs a “comprehensive infrastructure plan.” (Boru’s origins predate West Hollywood’s incorporation as an independent city in 1984.)
“This is one of the challenges we face when our infrastructure is very old,” he said.
“I have spent the last several years developing a comprehensive infrastructure plan that we introduced about two months ago,” he said, noting that the measure will be put before voters on the November ballot. “It is very difficult to repair the infrastructure that impacts the entire city and obviously two cities (West Hollywood and Los Angeles) without a citywide plan.”
