PCH Sewer Construction On Time, But Main Street Work Still Lags

   Though the installation of a new sewer line under Pacific Coast Highway between McClure Tunnel and the north city line is two years behind schedule, work on the portion of the line between the tunnel and the California Incline should be completed by Memorial Day, according to spokesperson Vikki Zale. 
   Work has been completed on the stretch of highway between the 1150 PCH parking lot and the 930 lot. Crews are currently micro-tunneling between the 1150 lot and the 1440 PCH parking lot. 
   Construction will be halted and all six lanes of PCH will be open to traffic during the busy summer months.Work on the northern stretch of the sewer line will begin next fall. 

   Main Street Plagued By Problems
   But, according to Zale, the Main Street project continued to be plagued by unanticipated problems and will not be completed until October. 
   Zale explained that construction crews encountered what she described as “a maze of underground electrical and telephone ducts at the intersection of Main and Marine that are substantially different and bigger than conveyed to our designers about two years ago. 
   “To relocate the utilities would have required at least five months. Therefore, we redesigned our sewer line to thread under the ducts with a smaller diameter pipe...(but) any redesign has far-reaching impacts, because of the necessity of maintaining adequate slope throughout the sewer. We’re now diverting some of the 60” pipe from the PCH project to this project to avoid having to special order new pipe. 

   Cracks Found in L.A. Line 
   “Further, at the south end of the project, which is actually in the City of Los Angeles, we discovered circumferential cracks in the L.A. sewer we’re to tie into. This required that we install two new manholes and run a bypass around the terminus junction structure to avoid any possibility of sewage spills. This required a lot of extra work by the contractor, all of which is now behind us. The bypass is installed and operational.”
   Compounding the problems, two weeks ago, “in the same area in the City of Los Angeles, we encountered a pocket of hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. Further excavation was discontinued while we work(ed) out a solution with the City of LA, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Air Quality Management District. 
   “Our project team, the City’s environmental specialists, the City of LA and A.D. Little representatives (worked) on a daily basis to get this resolved quickly, but it still takes time to get lab analyses performed and get all involved parties to agree on an acceptable solution. Hopefully, we’re now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.”

   Test Results Are Positive
   Test results on the pollutants did not show “very high levels of contamination” and the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant (in Playa del Rey) has okayed the discharge of the contaminated water into the sewer, permitting work to proceed. 
Vale stressed that the pollutants are “not harmful or dangerous to the general public.”
   In order to meet the latest deadline of October, Vale said, more frequent night and/or weekend work may be required, which will add to the cost of the project, “but we don’t want to be in the area during the holiday season.”