Laguna sewer project will start in January — 6 years after approval
In this 2013 photo, Joe McDivitt, left, and Jimmy Gomez of the South Coast Water District stand in a 2-mile stretch of sewer tunnel in South Laguna that the district plans to start repairing in late January.
It’s been six years since the South Coast Water District board approved a plan to repair a 2-mile-long, deteriorating sewer tunnel in South Laguna.
After gaining necessary approval from the city and California Coastal Commission, and holding more than 30 community meetings — as residents’ concerns over potential noise and dust from the project surfaced — the district is ready to break ground in late January.
The project will enlarge the existing tunnel from Three Arch Bay north to Aliso Beach Park and replace the sewer pipe within it.
The current tunnel, made of earth and rock and shored up in a few areas with timber beams, houses a 2-foot-wide sewer line that carries more than 1 million gallons of wastewater per day from South Laguna and north Dana Point to the coastal treatment plant in Aliso Canyon.
District representatives say the 62-year-old tunnel is undersized, making it difficult for workers to access some portions for needed repairs. Rotting wood beams and loose rock inside the tunnel create safety hazards for workers, according to South Coast’s website.
At a Nov. 17 meeting, the district’s board unanimously agreed to pay Drill Tech Drilling & Shoring Inc. $7.1 million to oversee construction of the first of four project phases.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point,” South Coast board member Rick Erkeneff said during the meeting. “I know South Laguna has been pretty much on pins and needles. In the meetings I’ve been in, staff is fully aware of the sensitivities of the community.”
In response to resident concerns about trucks entering and exiting the Fourth Avenue lot, the district erected sound walls around three sides of the property to help muffle any noise.
The first phase of construction calls for the digging of a 104-foot-long access shaft, 20 feet in diameter, from a district-owned lot at Fourth Avenue and South Coast Highway. This will allow workers and equipment to access the tunnel and pipeline.
Crews will then dig a new 310-foot-long tunnel under South Coast Highway that will connect to the existing tunnel under the coastal bluffs.
Workers will encase 300 feet of the existing sewer pipeline in concrete, according to a district staff report, and eventually stabilize and enlarge the tunnel in that section.
The first phase will take about a year to complete, after which work will begin on other sections of the tunnel and pipeline, district General Manager Andy Brunhart wrote in an email.
Two sections of the tunnel will be realigned farther away from the ocean to lessen the chance that a spill would reach the water, Brunhart said. The portions include a 740-foot span under the bluffs at Three Arch Bay and a 150-foot section under the bluffs north of Thousand Steps Beach, he added.
The entire project is expected to take five years and cost about $70 million, according to the district’s website.
Brunhart attributed the difference between this estimate and an earlier $78-million figure to the district determining the tunnel did not need to be enlarged as much as originally thought.
Initial projections called for enlarging the tunnel to 9 feet high and 9 feet wide. The revised dimensions will be 6.5 feet by 7 feet, Brunhart said.
On average, the current tunnel is 6-feet wide and tall, but it narrows in many places, according to a 2013 Coastline Pilot story.
The district will hold an informal public meet-and-greet with staff and contractors from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 8 at South Coast’s office, 31592 West St. in Laguna Beach.
For more information on the project, visit South Coast’s website, scwd.org.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
