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Podcasts Take Two
Is aging infrastructure to blame for UCLA water main break?
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Jul 30, 2014
Listen • 5:29
Is aging infrastructure to blame for UCLA water main break?
A busted water main sent a geyser shooting 30 feet in the air and flooded Sunset Boulevard and UCLA yesterday.
Water covers the court inside the Pauley Pavilion after a broken water main flooded the UCLA campus July 29, 2014.
Water covers the court inside the Pauley Pavilion after a broken water main flooded the UCLA campus.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)
UCLA students navigate a flooded street as they walk on campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.
UCLA students navigate a flooded street as they walk on campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)
A maintenance worker tires to mitigate flood damage to the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.
A maintenance worker tires to mitigate flood damage to the UCLA campus after a water main broke on Sunset Boulevard.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)
The pressure of the water main rupture caused some of the street to crack along Sunset Boulevard near UCLA.
The pressure of the water main rupture caused some of the street to crack along Sunset Boulevard near UCLA.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)
Los Angeles County firefighters staked sandbags along the UCLA Pauley Pavilion to try and prevent more water from entering the recently renovated sports arena.
Los Angeles County firefighters staked sandbags along the UCLA Pauley Pavilion to try and prevent more water from entering the recently renovated sports arena.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)
A UCLA maintenance worker reacts after measuring the water depth inside a parking garage on campus. His tape measure read more than four feet as water continued to fill the garage from a broken water main on Sunset Boulevard.
A UCLA maintenance worker reacts after measuring the water depth inside a parking garage on campus. His tape measure read more than four feet as water continued to fill the garage from a broken water main on Sunset Boulevard.
(
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
)

A busted water main sent a geyser shooting 30 feet in the air and flooded Sunset Boulevard and UCLA yesterday.

A busted water main sent a geyser shooting 30 feet in the air and flooded Sunset Boulevard and UCLA yesterday.

About 8 to 10 million gallons of water were lost before the line was shut off more than three hours later. Athletic facilities on the campus, including the newly remodeled Pauley Pavilion, were deluged. Andrew Ames, a fitness instructor at UCLA, was in Parking Lot 4, right around the corner from Pauley Pavilion, when it all began. He joins Take Two to talk about what he witnessed. 

LINK

The pipe that ruptured was a 30-inch water main carrying millions of gallons of water. It was built nearly 100 years ago in 1921, a reminder of our aging and vulnerable water infrastructure.

Mark Gold, acting director of UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, joins Take Two with more.