LOS ANGELES — Crews have cleaned up the sludge and broken pavement around a burst water main that deluged UCLA on Tuesday but still have to drain the pipe so they can begin repairs, officials said.
A cause for the rupture had yet to be determined and it was unclear how long a stretch of the pipe would have to be replaced, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesman Albert Rodriguez said Wednesday morning.
The rupture of the 90-year-old main sent a geyser shooting 30 feet in the air and deluged Sunset Boulevard and UCLA with 75,000 gallons of water a minute. From 8 million to 10 million gallons of water flowed from the rupter before it was shut off more than three hours after the pipe burst, city officials said.
Meanwhile, UCLA officials said they were still trying to assess the damage to their campus and student property.
Officials said up to 300 cars on campus were partially submerged in water and several hundred more were damaged. In all, six buildings sustained water damage, campus officials said. They were: the Pauley Pavilion, John Wooden and Acosta athletic complexes, the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and parking structures 4 and 7.
