DWP still working to repair water main break on Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews were still busy Saturday morning trying to repair a broken water main that closed a portion of Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood on Friday.
About 9,600 gallons of water per minute gushed from the 36-inch line after it ruptured at about 2:20 p.m., forcing the closure of Sunset between La Cienega Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue. The section of Sunset will remain closed until cleanup is completed.
By Saturday morning, workers had stanched the flow of water to about 100 to 200 gallons per minute, Michelle Vargas, a DWP spokeswoman, told KTLA-TV. The pipeline is about 100 years old.
“With a system as vast as ours, it’s bound to happen sooner or later,” Vargas said of the break.
The shutdown process is complicated as it involves approximately 15 valves that have to be hand-turned in a coordinated manner to isolate the pipe, according to the LADWP.
Authorities were asking people to avoid the area.
“We are very relieved to know that there were no injuries reported and that damage, at this point, appears to be minimal,” West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico said in a statement. “Now, our focus is to begin cleanup and get traffic moving again.”
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