By Daily Press staff
Construction on Pacific Coast Highway is finally over.
After five years, the city has finished rebuilding three miles of of the coastal interceptor sewer system, which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The system flows from the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica to the Hyperion Treatment Plant in Playa del Rey for treatment.
Construction of the five-year CIS System rehabilitation program, which began in 1997, included four sewer projects — the Pacific Coast Highway Regional Sewer Replacement Project, the Ocean Avenue/Neilson Way Relief Sewer Project, the Appian Way Sewer Project, and the Moss Avenue Pumping Station Project.
Crews ran into several problems during the work, including finding unknown underground utilities and substructures, dealing with difficult soil and water conditions, getting extensive per-mitting requirements, working in close proximity to residences and merchants, and impacting commuters.
The Palisades Beach Property Owners’ Association sued the city over the construction. The two sides reached an interim settlement if the work was finished by September, 2001. A trial date has not yet been set.
A community outreach program was implemented during construction to address questions and concerns from the public. The city had a 24-hour project hotline for information and complaints. The city also put signage at key highway locations throughout the region and monitored noise and vibration impacts from the construction. The city coordi-nated with government and law enforcement agencies including Caltrans, Los Angeles, Malibu, the California Highway Patrol, and the PCH Task Force committee led by Senator Sheila Kuehl’s office throughout the projects.
Even before the quake’s damage, the city’s major sewers were too small to handle future wastewater flows. After evaluating the condition and capacity of all its sewerage facilities, the city decided to replace, upgrade and upsize them to provide quality service for decades to come. With additional capacity, it also was possible to divert surface runoff water into the new sewer during dry weather to protect coastal waters from pollution into Santa Monica Bay.
The projects, a joint effort between the cities of Santa Monica and Los Angeles, were partially funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State of California, Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 2, 2002. Read the original PDF.