LOS ANGELES, CA – A sinkhole about 20 feet by 20 feet opened in a crosswalk at Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood on Wednesday morning after an 8-inch water main broke, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it received the call about the sinkhole at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, near the intersection. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, known as LADWP, put the time of the break at about 7:35 a.m.
No injuries were reported. Eastbound lanes of Sunset Boulevard were closed from Highland Avenue to Las Palmas Avenue until further notice.
Sinkhole opens in the crosswalk
The hole opened in the middle of the crosswalk at Sunset and Highland, near a fast-food restaurant at the intersection. Water bubbled up through the pavement around it.
The water did not stay at the intersection. It ran down McCadden Place and disrupted traffic in the area.
LADWP said the cause was a break in an 8-inch mainline. Firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department also responded to the scene.
LADWP crews shut off the water
LADWP crews went to the intersection to turn off the water flowing onto the street. The department said the shutoff had to be done with care.
“We have to do this carefully to avoid causing any other issues in other parts of the system since the water system is a pressurized system,” LADWP said.
Crews were to assess the full extent of the damage once the water receded. LADWP had not said how many customers lost service or when repairs would be finished.
Sunset Boulevard lanes closed
The closure covers every eastbound lane of Sunset Boulevard between Highland Avenue and Las Palmas Avenue. The stretch runs through a commercial corridor in the heart of Hollywood.
The closure remained in effect without an announced reopening time. Drivers in the area faced disruption from both the closed lanes and the water that spread onto nearby streets.
Earlier break in West Hollywood
The Hollywood break came months after a larger rupture on the same boulevard. LADWP has a page on the July 16 water main incident near Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive in West Hollywood, where a 36-inch pipe failed.
In a July 17 update, LADWP described the break as part of its Sunset Trunk Line. The update said the pipe was built in 1916, that it is designated for replacement and that construction is expected in 2031. It also said customers were served through an 8-inch backup line and that about 195,000 gallons were removed from the repair site.
According to initial reports, the Holloway Drive break released an estimated 17 million gallons of water and closed Sunset Boulevard for more than a week. LADWP is repairing a separate sinkhole at that location, and the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department carried an LADWP update on the Sunset water main work in the Holloway area.
According to initial reports, permanent roadway restoration at Sunset and Holloway began Oct. 19 and was expected to continue through Nov. 12. LADWP has not linked the Highland Avenue break to the July rupture.
How LADWP describes its water system
LADWP explains how its pipes are classified in a fast-facts page on trunk lines, mainlines and leaks. The page describes how the utility’s larger trunk lines and its mainlines work and how leaks in the system are handled.
The pipe that broke Wednesday was an 8-inch mainline. The July rupture in West Hollywood involved a 36-inch trunk line, according to LADWP.
An earlier break in Los Feliz in October affected about 30 customers, according to initial reports. LADWP has not said whether any customers were affected by the Hollywood break.
Eastbound Sunset lanes remain closed
The eastbound closure on Sunset Boulevard from Highland Avenue to Las Palmas Avenue remained in place until further notice. LADWP crews were still working at the intersection after shutting off the water.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reported no injuries from the sinkhole or the flooding. Repair work will begin after crews finish assessing the damage to the pipe and the roadway.
