Archive:Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County's roads, building safety, sewerage, and flood control. DPW also operates traffic signals and intelligent transportation systems, drinking water systems in certain communities, operates five airports, paratransit and fixed route public transport, administers various environment programs, issues various permits for activities in the public roadway, and has a Department Emergency Operations Center that works in conjunction with the County Emergency Operations Center operated by the Sheriff's Department.

Services are provided primarily to the unincorporated county with some services provided to contract cities. Flood control and watershed management services are provided to all of the county except the Antelope Valley. The Department of Public Works is the largest municipal public works agency in the country, employs over 3,500 people, and has a budget in excess of one billion dollars.

As part of its flood control and water supply responsibilities, the Department of Public Works has 15 major dams and 27 spreading grounds in the county. Pacoima Dam is one of the largest and survived the Northridge earthquake in 1994 when it was momentarily weightless.

Water from the dams is released into channels and some is diverted into spreading basins where it percolates into the ground and recharges the groundwater. The surface water is not used directly as it requires more cleaning than groundwater. Near the coast, the department has constructed sea water barriers that use injection wells to create a fresh water barrier to prevent salt water intrusion from the ocean into the groundwater.

The DPW is a leader in watershed management. It provides storm drain education programs, publishes and enforces best management practices for activities that may affect the watershed, and manages watersheds to provide a balance between flood control, recreation, and protecting the natural environment.

The first director was Thomas A. Tidemanson, P.E. After his retirement, the Alhambra, California headquarters building was named for him.

• Vision: The national leader in customer satisfaction and employee excellence
• Mission: Enhance our communities through responsive and effective public works services
• Values: Safety, Professionalism, Integrety, Respect, Innovation, The enviroment

History

The department was formed in 1985 in a consolidation of the county Road Department, the Flood Control District (in charge of dams, spreading grounds, and channels), and the County Engineer (in charge of building safety, land survey, waterworks).

For 25 years, the County Engineer Department was housed in the historic Higgins Building, a 10-story Beaux-Arts style commercial building that was designed and built by noted architect Arthur L. Haley and engineer Albert Carey Martin in 1910, at the corner of Second and Main Streets in Downtown Los Angeles. After "overseeing construction projects large and small from one of the city's strongest buildings, the county determined that the department needed more modern quarters and pulled up stakes in 1977," according to the Los Angeles City Planning Department, which designated the building as the Historic-Cultural Monument #873.

In 1977, the County Engineer Department moved to the corner of 5th Street and Vermont Ave., Los Angeles until the merge of the three departments. At that time the department was called the Department of County Engineer-Facilities.

For years, the Flood Control District and the County Road Department were headquartered in buildings at Alcazar Street in East Los Angeles by the Los Angeles County General Hospital.

Major divisions of the Public Works Department were located at various locations in Los Angeles city for a number of years, until the 12-story glass building in Alhambra, California was purchased and refurbished. This tallest structure in Alhambra was formerly the western headquarters of Sears, Roebuck and Company, where some fixture units still bear the label "Sears". The steel frames were strengthened in 2006 after it was learned from the Northridge earthquake that the welded joints were not adequate to withstand a major earthquake.

Major Divisions

• Architectural and Engineering Division
• Aviation Division – operates the five general aviation airports: Fox Field (Lancaster), Brackett Field (La Verne), Whiteman Airport (Pacoima), Compton/Woodley Airport (Compton), and El Monte Airport (El Monte)
• Building and Safety Division – regulates constructions on private properties
• Construction Division – issues permits for constructions on public right-of-ways
• Design Division
• Flood Control Maintenance Division – operates and maintains dams, open channels, storm drains, debris basins, check dams and pumping plants
• Geotechnical and Materials Engineering Division
• Land Development Division
• Project Management Division – manage capital project constructions for the County
• Road Maintenance Division – maintains the various streets and roads in the unincorporated portions of the County
• Sewer Maintenance Division – operates and maintains sewers, pumping stations and sewage treatment plants
• Survey Division – provides survey services, maintains public land/survey records
• Traffic and Lighting Division – handles the traffic controls and lights on the streets of the unincorporated portions of the County
• Waste Management Division
• Water Resources Division
• Watershed Management Division
• Waterworks Division – provides water services

Controversies

In 1988, the Department issued a demolition permit for tear down the historic Golden Gate Theater in East Los Angeles. Demolition commenced before officials led by then County Supervisor Ed Edelman halted the work with a stop-work order. Demolition crews had already begun to dismantle the walls when Edelman, then Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, sheriff's deputies and more than 50 concerned community members showed up at the site to ensure the demolition work was halted. Edelman blamed a "foul-up" in the Public Works Department for issuing the demolition permit and assured the gathered crowd that heads were going to roll and that he would "try and stop this damn demolition before it happens."

See also

• Eaton Wash Reservoir

External links

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Works web site

• Lakewood Accountability Action Group A group of County Residents that lives in Lakewood California (within Supervisor Knabe's district) and often assists cyclists and others with getting the LA County Dept. of Public Works to repair and or fix issues with the San Gabriel River Bike Path.