Sidewalks show signs of cracking

Fred Ortega

Brand-new sidewalks lining Honolulu Avenue in the Montrose Shopping

Park are already showing some hairline fractures, just two months

after they were installed as part of a nearly $1 million refurbishing

project.

A visual inspection of a two-block stretch of Honolulu Avenue

between Verdugo Road and Wickham Way on Sunday showed more than 35

cracks, most hardly visible to the average passerby. The area in

front of the Glendale Community College Professional Building had the

most notable damage, a series of cracks crisscrossing through the

sidewalk in a spider-web pattern.

Despite their minute size, the fissures have already caught the

eye of the Montrose Shopping Park Assn., association Secretary John

Drayman said.

“We have noticed the stress cracks on the sidewalk,” Drayman said.

“They mostly follow the score marks along the sidewalk, and we have

asked the city about them.”

The association was told by Glendale Public Works Director Steve

Zurn that the city is aware of the cracks and will be addressing the

situation with contractor E.C. Construction before the work is done,

Drayman said. He estimated construction of the final portion of the

project, the 2400 block of Honolulu, to conclude within two to three

weeks.

Despite their unsightliness at times, none of the cracks should

present a liability to the city, Drayman said.

“None of these cracks are trip or fall hazards, and I wouldn’t

characterize them as making the sidewalks uneven,” he said. “But our

concern as an organization is that they don’t become something that

is more involved and that they do not become typical or

characteristic of this new sidewalk. They are unattractive in places,

and we are looking at the possibility that some sections may have to

be repoured.”

The cracks are typical of any new sidewalk, said John Walters,

project manager for E.C. Construction.

“Any time you have a concrete job there are always going to be

hairline cracks,” Walters said. “In order to control these cracks you

cut score lines where you expect the cracks to appear. But the

unfortunate thing is that the concrete is going to break where it

wants to.”

The cracks have also formed because of the extreme variations of

temperature typical to the Southland, with cool nights and hot days

expanding and contracting the concrete, Walters said.

“In addition, the old light bases were not removed when the new

lights were installed,” Walters said. “If you have an existing object

pushing up on the sidewalk, then it is going to crack.”

Some of the cracks visible along Honolulu do indeed originate from

the new lampposts that were part of the refurbishing project. Many,

however, do not.

While the contractor and city inspectors have noted the cracks,

none of them seem severe enough to have to be filled in, Walters

said.

“The only way we would go back and repair them is if they

continued opening up and became a tripping hazard,” he said. “If the

city points out any cracks they deem as hazardous, then of course we

will take care of them.”

The cracks had to be pointed out to La Crescenta native John

French in order for him to see them.

“I wouldn’t have just noticed it by just walking by,” said French

while observing one hairline fracture in front of Joselitos

restaurant. “I don’t think it is of particular concern.”

Two minor cracks in front of the Black Cow Cafe had also gone

unnoticed by manager Chris Mangandi.

“I don’t consider them a problem,” Mangandi said. “But if there

are any that need to be filled in, I am sure the contractor will take

care of it. There were some left in the stucco of our building after

they laid in the sidewalk and the contractor was really good about

coming out within two weeks and patching them up.”