Construction of Los Angeles’ impressive US$240.3M, 18.4km long East Central Interceptor Sewer (ECIS) tunnel is up and running following the start of boring of the 1.9km long eastbound drive from Grand Avenue to San Pedro.
The drive, that had progressed 75m at press, is the first of five being constructed by four US$5m, 4.7m diameter Lovat TBMs.
The five separate drives, that will run at an average depth of 25m, are the 2.5km long Unit 1 running westbound from the La Cienega/Jefferson shaft to Culver City. Unit 2 that runs 4.8km eastbound from La Cienega/Jefferson shaft to the Arlington retrieval shaft. The recently started Unit 3 comprising two drives, the 1.9km long eastbound Grand Avenue shaft to San Pedro retrieval shaft drive and the 3.8km long westbound drive from the central Grand Avenue shaft to the Arlington retrieval shaft. Finally, Unit 4 consisting of a 5.2km long westbound drive from Mission & Jesse shaft to the San Pedro retrieval shaft. Boring on Unit 2 will start this month followed by Unit 4 in April with Unit 1 scheduled to kick-off in July. The west bound Unit 3 will get under way in Sept.
All tunnelling work is being carried out by the Kenny/ Shea/Traylor/Frontier Kemper JV, which was awarded the contract at the end of January 2001. The contract time has been set by the client, the City of Los Angeles at 1000 calendar days meaning that construction should be completed by November 2003.
The ECIS scheme has been designed to prevent a repetition of the sewage overflows seen in the city’s North Hollywood area following the devastating El Nino storms of 1998. These lead the LA Regional Quality Control Board to issue a cease and desist order that required the city to construct several major sewer projects. The ECIS must be complete by the end of 2003 in order for the Northeast Interceptor Sewer, another major tunnelling programme currently out to bid, to proceed.
