Pipeline Project Limits Traffic Woes

Minimizing traffic congestion was a concern of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power when it began a $3.5-million pipeline rehabilitation project in January along Roscoe Boulevard.

The project calls for 24,000 feet of high-density polyethylene pipe to be slipped inside the existing water pipeline from Louise Avenue in Northridge to De Soto Avenue in Chatsworth, to repair leaks that resulted from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, said Michael Grahek, contract administrator for the pipeline rehabilitation section of the DWP.

The procedure, called “slip-lining,” “minimizes traffic and construction nuisances,” Grahek said. “If you were to contrast this to a full excavation and replacement, it would mean digging along the entire length of the project, including intersections.”

Slip-lining is also cheaper, he said, saving about 60% over a standard dig-and-replace contract.

Despite the presence of winches and truck-mounted cranes that have taken up position along the center divider and left-hand lanes on Roscoe Boulevard, traffic has negotiated with little difficulty around the project that is in its final phase.

“You tend to get more congestion when you get closer to the 405 Freeway, but traffic overall has not been much of a problem,” Grahek said.

Thursday afternoon temperatures of 110 in Chatsworth did, however, pose a problem for the DWP construction workers.

“On a hot day like this, it’s critical that they drink plenty of water and stay as cool as possible because heat stroke is always a concern in this type of temperature,” Grahek said.

The construction, which is being done from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 15, Grahek said.