Pasadena Public Works Director on Larry Mantle Show

Martin Pastucha, Pasadena's Public Works Director, was interviewed on KPCC's Larry Mantle Show this morning on a segment about Southern California's infrastructure. I believe the show was inspired by the sinkhole that opened up on the 110 last week.

The audio from the show was not yet online when I published the post but you can check back on the show's home page later on, and there will likely be a link up later. Pastucha was on near the end of the first hour of the show.

It was a short segment, and I missed the very end of it, but here is what I learned:

-Pasadena has some of the oldest sewer pipes in Los Angeles County. Some have been around for 130 years.

-The older sewer pipes are holding up as well or better than some of the younger sewer pipes because they are made out of clay, which apparently works better than clay (although Gary Lee Moore, L.A.'s city engineer, talked about this more than Pastucha did).

-Rather than replace old sewer lines, the city hopes to use some sort of material to line it and seal up any cracks (I was pulling up and getting ready to step out of the car at this point, so I didn't catch all the details.)

-The city goes down annually and looks at all the pipes under the city.