Last Friday night, emergency crews rushed to the scene on the 4200 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City to rescue a woman from her car. The vehicle was trapped in a large, dark sinkhole filling rapidly with rushing water. The cause of the sinkhole was a collapsed sewer main below the street. It appears that the severe storm we endured was the catalyst. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt by the sinkhole. That night, Los Angeles experienced one the strongest storm systems in the last decade. The powerful rainstorm brought between six to nine inches of rain across Southern California. Through hard work and great professionalism, the city's emergency crews, including the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Department of Transportation, Los Angeles Sanitation, the Bureau of Engineering, the Bureau of Street Services and the Department of Water and Power helped restore power to more than 85,000 customers, clear streets and keep Angelenos safe as the city weathered the storm.
Latest on the sinkhole
As of today, the sinkhole has been stabilized and city contractors continue to clear the sinkhole by hand. Crews are now raking debris from the downstream pipe back into the hole. Both the upstream and downstream reaches were inspected and no additional voids were detected.What work will be done on Laurel Canyon?
The city will rehabilitate the sewer under Laurel Canyon Boulevard while the sewer is being bypassed to minimize any similar incidents or any possible future inconvenience to the community. Once the sewer under Laurel Canyon is rehabilitated and renewed, the sewer in the sinkhole will be repaired, and the sink hole will be closed.
As crews work around the clock to repair the damage and restore the area, it will likely take several weeks to complete the job.
Impact on traffic
Currently, one lane of traffic in both directions on Laurel Canyon Boulevard will continue to be open during repairs. Intermittent closures may occur to support construction activity. Woodbridge Street remains closed on both sides of Laurel Canyon. You can expect delays in the area and I urge you to use caution while traversing through the construction zone.
Visit emergency.lacity.org for updates and a map of the affected area. You can also feel free to write me with any comments you have about the continuing work to repair the sinkhole: [email protected].