Crews were getting closer on Friday to repairing two 93-year-old trunklines of a water main that burst in Westwood — sending 20 million gallons of water into the air and onto UCLA’s campus —Tuesday afternoon.
More than 70 feet of new steel pipe was brought in to complete the job, Jeff Bray of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said during a Friday news conference.
“We anticipate repairs on the pipelines to be completed Friday night into Saturday,” Bray said.
Once the water main is repaired, crews will begin a backfill process, which consists of filling the hole with a material strong enough to support the asphalt paving that will be put on top, Bray said.
The road will reopen after the backfill and street repair phase is completed, but it was unclear how long that would take, according to Bray.
Meanwhile, some UCLA students were reunited with their vehicles on Friday, which have been trapped in campus parking garages that flooded when the water main ruptured.
Other vehicles remained submerged however, leaving many students waiting on updates as crews continued to pump out standing water from the parking structures.
Tuesday’s water main break also caused flood damage to several buildings on campus.
Pauley Pavilion was of particular concern to campus officials. The court, which was under 8 to 10 inches of water at one point, will have to be completely replaced due to flood damage, according to a tweet from the UCLA Newsroom on Friday.
New pipe ready to go. pic.twitter.com/aD1hNxWF90
— LADWP (@LADWP) August 1, 2014
We have incredibly skilled welders. All on the job. pic.twitter.com/GT1nC6O6Hl
— LADWP (@LADWP) August 1, 2014
Crews are working fast. All hands on deck finishing pipe sections and preparing the juncture. pic.twitter.com/FuKKIQZh7N
— LADWP (@LADWP) August 1, 2014
Replacement valve takes 139 manual turns of wheel to shut off water. Avg. person tires after 25 turns. pic.twitter.com/cj6r5FNzyd
— LADWP (@LADWP) August 1, 2014
Welders working round the clock to complete fabrication of custom Y section. pic.twitter.com/2ineNefOMJ
— LADWP (@LADWP) August 1, 2014