Water main break repaired on Sunset Boulevard; street may reopen soon

A heavily trafficked stretch of Sunset Boulevard that was shut down Friday by a ruptured pipe could reopen by midnight Saturday, according to a West Hollywood official.

Workers from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power wrapped up repairs Saturday afternoon on a nearly century-old pipe, roughly 24 hours after the rupture deluged a stretch of the famed Sunset Strip, snarling traffic.

The 36-inch pipe burst Friday around 2:20 p.m. near Olive Drive, forcing the shutdown of Sunset between La Cienega Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue and sending roughly 9,600 gallons of water per minute gushing onto surrounding streets.

Utility officials believe that all eastbound lanes and one westbound lane on Sunset Boulevard could reopen by midnight Saturday, said West Hollywood spokeswoman Lisa Marie Belsanti.

However, no left turns will be allowed from Sunset Boulevard westbound onto southbound La Cienega Boulevard, according to Belsanti. Utility officials estimate that Sunset Boulevard will continue to operate with reduced lanes until at least Monday in order to allow for roadway repairs and paving.

“The city is anxious to get everybody back to business,” Belsanti said. However, she cautioned that traffic would still be affected on Sunset Boulevard.

“Those who want to avoid traffic should continue to avoid Sunset for nonessential” trips, she said. “But we do still want people to go. If they want to keep their dinner reservations, those businesses will be happy to have their customers back.”

The Department of Water and Power said shutting down the pipeline was a complex operation involving an estimated 15 valves that had to be “hand-turned in a coordinated manner to isolate the pipe.”

Workers welded a steel cap onto the pipe, completing those repairs about 2 p.m. Saturday.

“Our goal is to have at least one lane in each direction open by midnight,” said DWP spokeswoman Terry Schneider.

Schneider said as of late Saturday afternoon, workers were refilling the pipe with water before pressure testing it, and would then backfill the hole with a mix of dirt and cement that takes roughly 48 hours to dry.

Schneider said that dozens of customers lost their water service starting Saturday morning, when repair crews shut down one of the nearby valves. Water service has since been restored, but customers might notice low pressure or experience “intermittent lapses” as crews continue to work the valves, she said.

The burst pipe is believed to have been installed in 1916, according to the utility. The steel-riveted pipe was later lined with cement in 1957 to extend its life.

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