SYLMAR : Supervisors Award Dam-Repair Contract

Eager to fix damage caused by the Northridge earthquake before the rainy season begins, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to ignore the normal contract bidding process and pay an experienced engineering firm $400,000 to design the repair of the Pacoima Dam.

The 370-foot-tall dam in the San Gabriel Mountains above Sylmar sustained $4.9-million damage in the quake, 97% of which will be paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, county officials said.

The quake created a two-inch gap between the top of the dam and a massive concrete block connecting it to the canyon wall. It also caused that concrete connection to move about half an inch downstream relative to the dam’s crest. As a precaution, the reservoir pool behind the dam is being kept at one-seventh of its capacity, said Jim Noyes, deputy director of the county Department of Public Works.

The supervisors awarded the contract to the firm of Morrison Knudsen of San Francisco, which also designed $3 million in dam repairs necessary after the 1971 Sylmar quake.