Construction of a large and critical bulkhead on the historically unstable Via de las Olas bluffs continued past the city’s self-imposed December deadline, according to the Department of Public Works. Completion of the $3.5-million project awaits approval and construction of what the department considers an ’emergency’ sewer realignment project, which could last as long as nine months. Although construction of the bulkhead will continue into next month, the city says that already completed work has achieved the main objective’shoring the street from geological threat as it enters the wet season. ‘From a technical perspective, the bulkhead’s lateral support of the street has been accomplished,’ said Public Works spokeswoman Lauren Skinner. Construction began last August after the delivery of 61 steel beams. By December 20, all 61 of those 59-ft beams’which constitute the main infrastructure of the bulkhead and run 500 ft. along the street’had been installed vertically into the canyon, said Skinner. An open pit, which houses the piles, still remains, partially blocking passage of the thin street. Paving over the existing pit and construction of a guardrail along the steep bluff now depend on the completion of the city’s yet-to-be approved plan to realign a troublesome, 70-year-old city sewer from Via de las Olas into Potrero Canyon. (This year alone, tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage spilled when land movement on Via ruptured the already-weakened sewer line and closed Will Rogers State Beach for several days.) By late December, the city had not yet received Coastal Commission approval of the project and had not awarded the project to a private contractor. According to department spokeswoman Stephanie Interiano, construction of that sewer project is expected to begin by February or March next year. The department estimates that the project will last nine months. ‘Movement of the landslide has resulted in repeated emergency maintenance repairs to piping,’ PW’s Skinner said. ‘The project scope calls for connecting both the sewer and storm drain to existing facilities located in or adjacent to Potrero Canyon. All the sewers and storm drains will be redirected to Potrero Canyon’ Once the new sewer and storm drain are constructed and active, the existing discharge piping on the Via de las Olas [bluffs] will be removed and abandoned.’ Even with the prospect of nearly one year more of construction effectively blocking thru-traffic on the street, 35-year Via resident Cliff Carlson isn’t going to complain. ‘I’m not worried about [construction],’ he said. ‘It’s a benefit to have the security of having [the bulkhead] there. I’m very appreciative. There would be no way we could have done it ourselves, and the noise is minimal.’ Carlson is one of many Via residents who watched erosion eat away at the muddy bluff and warned city, state and federal officials in vain about the impending threat to their homes. In 2005, Congressman Henry Waxman directed $2.6 million of Federal Emergency Management Administration funds toward repairing the street, effectively jump-starting a long-overdue project to stabilize the bluffs. The state and city agreed to split the remaining costs of the estimated $3.5-million project. In 2006, the city approved construction plans for the bluffs and a private contractor won the bid for the project. However, a supply-chain delay in the delivery of the 61 steel piles postponed the beginning of construction until this August. The city decided that re-awarding the contract to a private construction firm would only unnecessarily delay construction, so crews from Public Works’ Bureau of Street Services were chosen. ——- To contact Staff Writer Max Taves, e-mail reporter@palipost.com or call (310) 454-1321 ext. 28.
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