Venice Dual Force Main Sewer

Project Description

The City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works will construct a new two mile long, 54-inch diameter force main sewer to supplement the existing 48-inch diameter force main sewer built in 1960.

Purpose

The new force main is needed to avert a potential sewage spill that could occur resulting from an overflow or failure of the existing 54-year-old force main. The performance of the existing force main is of concern because:

• During severe wet weather, peak flows to the Venice Pumping Plant (VPP) have exceeded the capacity of the only existing force main conveying wastewater from the Plant to the Hyperion Treatment Plant. Without additional capacity, there is a risk of an overflow of sewage into city streets and surface waters.
• The existing force main has been in continued service for the past 54 years without any maintenance. To avoid a potential failure, redundancy is needed to allow for assessment of its condition and maintenance.

Project Alignment

The new force main will cross the Grand Canal from the VPP at 140 Hurricane Street easterly to Marquesas Way, then southerly along Via Marina crossing the Marina Del Rey and Ballona Creek Channels to an existing coastal interceptor sewer junction structure on Vista Del Mar near Waterview Street via Pacific Avenue.

Project Status and Schedule: 

• The City Council certified the Final EIR on January 12, 2010, thereby approving the recommended alignment route.
• The project design is near completion and the permitting phase is underway. The public hearing for the City Coastal Development Permit was held on January 21, 2015 at the Westchester Senior Citizens Center from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. City CDP Hearing Public Notice.
• The City Coastal Development Permit has been recommended for approval with conditions. Please review the Notice of Decision and Final Staff Report for details.
• An appeal of City CDP 10-04 was filed on April 6, 2015 and will be considered by the Board of Public Works on May 8, 2015. Please review the Hearing Notice for details. A copy of the meeting agenda and related items will be available at this link: https://boe.lacity.org/dpw/ebreports/. 
  Related Documents:
  • Staff Report Re CDP Appeal
  • Appeal of Richard Lysle
  • Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations
  • Council Report Regarding Updated Traffic Study
  • February 2008 Report from Board of Public Works
• A public hearing for the LA County Coastal Development Permit process was held on February 25, 2015 at 9:00 am. LA County CDP Hearing Notice. The permit was approved and can be found here: https://planning.lacounty.gov/case/view/r2014-01462
• The construction phase is expected to be completed within three years and will begin once all of the necessary permits have been obtained.
• Project Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions Information Sheet

Proposed Construction Method

The primary construction method is micro-tunneling. The southernmost 900 feet will require open trenching. Micro-tunneling between construction shafts that are approximately 1000 feet apart reduces the extent of traffic impacts.

Through-traffic will be maintained at all times, with minimal detours.

Envirmonmental Review Documents

For documents related to the environmental or coastal permitting process, please click on this link: https://eng2.lacity.org/techdocs/emg/venice_pumping_plant.htm

Should you have any questions or would like more information about this project, please contact Tonya Durrell, Public Affair Office at (213) 978-0333 or send an email to venice.dual.force.main.project@gmail.com.

To view larger image of map, visit https://eng2.lacity.org/projects/vpp/vpp.pdf.