Defective Valve Delays North Park Storm Drain Project

After more than 50 years of flooding in their neighborhood, North Park residents continue to wait for the problem to be curtailed after a storm water management project hit a snag.

As Patch reported, the project involves installing a 12-foot storm water drainage pipe that features a CheckMate backflow valve, a new technology that operates by using sensors and involves more sophisticated equipment than a Tideflex valve, which was used in other parts of the city, such as the Canals, to control flooding from high tides on Reynolds Channel, city officials said.

But it was discovered that the CheckMate valve used in the $85,000 project was defective and may delay the project’s completion for several weeks, according to the Long Beach Hearld. City officials said in November that work to replace the pipe, on Riverside Boulevard between Park Place and the bay, would be completed sometime after Thanksgiving, and the defect was discovered in early December. Former City Manager Charles Theofan said:

"We wanted to make sure it was properly working. There was a series of tests. There was a defect in the valve itself. It will be replaced."

Patch reported in July that the city had entered a contract agreement with All Island Plumbing to alleviate most of the flooding concerns in the Riverside Boulevard drainage area, and hoped to complete the project before the school year began in September.