Thank you for the separate walk, bike path along east side of Oxford Retention Basin … and at night, with lights on, it is truly special.
Last issue the Update had an article about the Oxford Retention Basin and walking with Buddy, a worker, who was forthcoming with his statements. Unfortunately, according to Kerjon Lee, Public Affairs Manager for LA County Public Works, there were a few misstatements.
One of the statements was that the county installed new locks and pumps. Not true. According to Lee, the County has installed new automated tide gates that allow for a gravitational exchange of water between the two basins. This is essential to the facility’s flood protection function.
The curved surface with the habitation of “earthen berm” in the middle of the basin is to improve water circulation within the basin and prevent stagnation. As an added feature, the berm is covered with vegetation to provide habitat for birds and aquatic species.
The vegetation in the basin is not both salt- and fresh-water tolerant. The riparian plants (those located near the waterline)are saltwater tolerant, but the plants and trees located in the upper areas are not.
The County Public Works department spent the day (Tuesday) draining the north-of-Washington side of Oxford as the rain, which started at 3 am, continued, tapering to a drizzle after dawn. The south-of-Washington side of Oxford bubbled thru the sewer caps again.
The north side of Oxford drains into the middle of the basin on the north side of the basin. The south side drains into the basin pump station (east side of basin). One man felt that draining the north side would keep the basin down five feet. It drained down Mildred until the sidewalks were filled and it was draining as far as Wilson (west two streets). One person on Olive offered his Boogie board.
Then about noon, the crew decided to drain it down Harbor Street which turns into Holly court.
The crew did say they were going to put one-way flow restrictors on the Dickson-Oxford drain. This would prevent water from the basin backing up thru the drain at Dickson. It would allow water from Dickson to flow to basin but not reverse. Perhaps, there should be one at Oxford as shown in last photo.
Green hose is removing water from drain on Oxford, north of Washington, and blue is diverting water to Mildred.
Water on Olive rose past the sidewalk to the lawn.
It went two blocks west to Wilson.
This is the alley that turns into Harbor Street and then Harbor Court.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Oxford (south of Washington) water is draining into the Oxford Basin as best it can. The dark area is water not able to go into the basin or backing up from the basin and escaping out the sewer cap and going into the drain. One can see bubbles coming from the sewer cap.
Yes, it was water from the Oxford Basin that was flowing onto Oxford Avenue, both on the north and south sides of Washington Blvds, Thursday night, starting around 8 pm. The street was almost dry at 6 am Friday morning. See previous story.
Josh Svensson, County Department of Public Works engineer for the redo of the Oxford Basin, stated early Friday morning that it was opened flood gates coupled with the high tide. The gates were being worked on during the day and apparently the bladder “didn’t work,” he said.
Kerjon Lee, media spokesperson for the County Department of Public Works, stated Friday night that the tide gates are closed and will remain so until Monday morning. Work will continue on the gates Monday.
What looked like breaks in the road at night were either drains or sewer caps. It was hard to tell what was happening in the dark.
The water cascading from the Harbor Cross was actually a drain and the eruption on Howard at Oxford was actually a couple of sewer caps.
Following is official statement from County Department of Public Works:
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On Thursday evening, one of the two air bladders being used to seal the leaking tide gates at Oxford Basin became unanchored. These air bladders were installed by the contractor for use in draining the basin to complete work below the water line.
When the air bladder became dislodged, the water level within the Oxford Basin began to rise with the high tide within the Marina, which peaked at around 9 PM. This led to a back flow of water onto some local streets. Public Works staff is currently on site and working with the contractor to ensure this issue is resolved before the next high tide at approximately 10 pm tonight.
Residents may contact Vincent Yu at (626) 300-3203 or vyu@dpw.lacounty.gov with any questions. Public Works also maintains a 24-hour dispatch center at (626) 458-4357.
Harbor Crossing drain.
Howard at Oxford where water was seen bubbling.
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LATEST: Josh Svensson, County Department of Public Works engineer for the Oxford Basin redo, said Friday morning that it was indeed the flood gates and coupled with the high tide, the water was backing up into the Triangle. He said they had been working on the flood gates earlier in the day and an installed bladder “didn’t work.” There is a high tide this morning and one tonight.
That is the question that has not been answered as of this hour. Water is flowing into the residential areas via storm drains—curb openings and sewer tops and just arbitrarily new-made holes in the street. This started about 8 pm Thursday (30 July).
The drains that normally would be draining into the Oxford Basin were experiencing this reverse flow of water such as makes one suspect the Oxford Basin is draining into the low areas of Oxford Ave on both sides of Washington Blvd. A piece of sea weed was found and furthers the vote for the basin.
One resident mentioned the problems with the county leaving the flood gate open and with high tide, the Triangle gets flooded, she said.
Fire trucks were there looking for a burst water hydrant and left when they found there was not a hydrant problem. Department of Water and Power arrived and was looking for a broken water line. Nothing. DWP contacted his department to tell them that it was probably the Oxford Basin that was the problem and that they should notify the County. Parking enforcement arrived to block off the street. They were trying to divert traffic in case there was a sink hole created. Police closed Oxford north of Washington.
This shows a sewer cap with water coming out.
This looks like water going down the drain but it is actually flowing out of the drain.
A hole was made in Harbor Crossing lane and the water was cascading over the driveway into the street.
This is Howard at Oxford showing new holes created by the water pressure.
One of the parking enforcement officers found this sea weed that came out of the drain.
This is the Oxford north of Washington. One can see water is on the driveway.