Great Big Hole in Ocean Park Blvd.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- January 10, 2003 -- As widely reported in Westside publications, Ocean Park Boulevard lies now with a gaping wound from 11th Street to Euclid where only weeks ago this road's sleek surface of ebony asphalt shone with perfection.

According to Santa Monica Daily Press, a section of Ocean Park Blvd. gave way and sank fifteen feet into the ground at around 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 28. Another part at the intersection with 11th Street then collapsed two days later, leaving a really big mess and a lot of explaining to do for city officials.

According to Gil Borboa, City Utilities Manager, this main artery of traffic in south Santa Monica collapsed on account of a main artery of water that ruptured underneath. Large quantities of water were released, causing the sand under the road to erode downhill. Soon there was no longer any earthen support for the street, and the road crumbled into what officials call the 'Ocean Park Sinkhole.'

The road will be closed until mid-March and officials estimate it will cost over $1 million to repair it. The cause of the water main break remains mysterious. In an interview with the Daily Press, Borboa said, "It's hard to say whether it's a man-made disaster. The pipe ruptured for whatever reason."

In the end, this whole 'Sinkhole' business will be a valuable lesson for Angelenos in getting to know their environment. Residents should well remember that, beneath all those great concrete thoroughfares, the shrubbery and irrigated, yellowish-green lawns, and the fantastic advances in breast augmentation, by nature's design, LA is really just a sandy, desert wasteland that can erode away into the Pacific when you least expect it. It's something to keep in mind.

From Wilshire Gazette (February 2003)

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