Plans to lower a camera 300 feet below Western Avenue in San Pedro — if all goes well — could provide what will be the first glimpse into what happened several months ago when 31 workers on July 9 were temporarily trapped due to a breach in the underground tunnel being built to carry the region’s wastewater.
All workers were rescued with only a few minor injuries reported.
Work to begin drilling a 6-inch bore hole in the street to send a camera below ground to a depth of 370 feet is set to begin on Monday, Aug. 29, on Western Avenue just north of Weymouth — where the breach occurred — and work could impact traffic in at least one Western Avenue lane for four to six weeks.
The location is on Western Avenue across from the Fifth Street cul-de-sac and will require one southbound traffic lane closure.
Map shows where 6-inch bore holes will be drilled on Western Avenue in San Pedro. Workers will send a camera below ground to a depth of 370 feet to determine more about what caused the tunnel breach in a project to build new wastewater pipes from Carson to San Pedro. Work is set to begin on Monday, Aug. 29 and continue for four to six weeks on Western Avenue just north of Weymouth — above where the underground breach occurred — and work could impact traffic in at least one Western Avenue lane for four to six weeks. The location is on Western Avenue across from the Fifth Street cul-de-sac and will require one southbound traffic lane closure. (Local Rights)“Commuters and local residents can expect a one-lane closure on the southbound side of Western Avenue at this location,” according to the traffic advisory. “Expect traffic delays along Western Avenue and Weymouth Avenue during work hours.”
The advisory also noted: “There are no safety issues or concerns for this area while this work takes place.”
A sonic drilling machine apparatus will be moved into place by Monday, said Michael Chee, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. The process may require more than one 6-inch drill holes for different camera angles, he said, to determine what the status of the tunnel is.
“We may have to drill more than one bore hole depending on what can or cannot see,” Chee said in a telephone interview Thursday, Sept. 24. “It may involve more than one location” within the designated area.
That data, he said, then will be shared with Cal/OSHA, the agency with the authority to give the go-ahead on how to proceed and whether it is safe enough to send workers below to conduct more research and assessments.
The cause of the breach remains unknown but resulted in a broken portion of the tunnel that nearly blocked the tunnel, stopping a tram taking workers south inside the tunnel when the rescue had to be executed. Questions remain on whether other areas around or beyond the breach point may have been affected and that is what officials hope to determine with the underground cameras.
The new underground wastewater pipeline will go from Carson to San Pedro. Once crews can again access the tunnel, it will launch what is expected to be a lengthy and thorough investigation as to what caused the breach that led to 31 workers being temporarily trapped. They were able to escape with only a few minor injuries reported.
A state-of-the-art boring machine — taller than a two-story building — being used underground to create the rest of the tunnel that will continue south to Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro also remains below and questions about whether that equipment incurred any significant damage are among the unknowns.
A community presentation was made in August about the status of the work with details of that presentation now available on the district website.
The ambitious, $630 million, multiyear Clearwater Tunneling Project launched in 2019 and was more than a decade in the works, requiring extensive planning and community outreach. Work had progressed without problems until the collapse, which occurred about five to six miles from the only above-ground access point in Wilmington to the north.
The project is needed to accommodate larger pipes that will be required to move wastewater from Carson to San Pedro in the future. The older, smaller pipes continue to operate and are sufficient to keep moving the region’s wastewater to the ocean, sanitation officials have said.
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The Sanitation Districts has been monitoring daily above-ground movement through sensors placed throughout the area since the incident, Chee said. That process involves prisms installed on poles that would detect any surface ground movement. So far none has been detected, he said.
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