Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rehabilitates its Grand View Regulator Station

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) recently completed the rehabilitation of its Grand View Regulator Station as part of its five-year $2.4 billion Water Infrastructure Plan. The plan seeks to replace or upgrade numerous elements of the department’s water infrastructure including in-city reservoirs and water tanks, large valves mainline pipes, pump stations, trunk lines and water meters. The Grand View Regulator Station is one of the first LADWP stations to be rehabilitated.

“Completion of the Grand View Regulator Station demonstrates LADWP’s commitment to ensuring a reliable water supply for our customers by upgrading and replacing aging infrastructure before it reaches the end of its service life,” said Richard Harasick, senior assistant general manager – Water System. “Our Asset Management Program helps our hard-working crews prioritize efforts across the water system and determine where our resources are needed the most.”

Water pressure is automatically controlled by regulator and relief stations that automatically adjust for changes in flow thereby providing customers with safe water pressure. The work recently completed on the Grand View station has increased water reliability in the Mar Vista area and its surrounding communities.

Regulator and relief stations are critical elements to the city’s water system and the 66-year-old Grand View Regulator Station has been part of the long-term strategy to replace aging infrastructure. However, work of the magnitude of the Grand View project can often impact residential areas or major intersections and thoroughfares. In order to minimize disruptions to the Mar Vista area LADWP worked with city agencies to carefully plan the ten-month project.

The Grand View Regulator Station project included construction/installation of a total of 15 new regulating and isolation valves along with approximately 150 feet of 6- to 24-inch steel pipe network. Ventilation was replaced to accommodate new equipment inside the underground station vault. A total of 350 cubic yards of soil was excavated for the project.

The construction area was clearly delineated so as to allow for continued traffic flow in the area. A temporary bypass regulating valve adjacent to the station was installed prior to the start of the actual project allowing for a continued water supply to the neighborhood while the station was down. The temporary bypass will remain in service and will provide redundancy for future maintenance.

A crew of five full-time members and additional five support personnel worked on the project from November 28, 2016 until the job was recently completed.