Back Bay Drive a work in progress

Oct. 22, 2001 12 AM PT

Paul Clinton

UPPER NEWPORT BAY -- Two large-scale construction projects have

virtually halted the usual parade of walkers and bicycle riders on Back

Bay Drive.

However, some determined souls are bypassing large warning signs to

continue using the road, project managers said.

“We would really like folks to stay out of the job site because we do

have heavy construction equipment,” said Mike Bock, a manager with the

Orange County Sanitation District. “We do have folks ignoring the signs.”

The sanitation district in September launched an $8.09-million effort

to replace a major sewer artery snaking along the eastern edge of Upper

Newport Bay.

During the project, the district will repair 2,700 feet of pipe and

replace another 6,800 feet between the Newport Dunes Resort and Big

Canyon.

District officials learned they needed to replace the corroded 24-inch

iron pipe when a mudslide exposed an array of pinhole leaks during the El

Nino rains in 1998.

Workers are busy digging trenches, laying pipe and pouring concrete in

the first of four phases of the project.

The first section of the project, from Shellmaker Island to San

Joaquin Hills Road, is expected to be completed by Nov. 30. The second

phase, set for between Dec. 1 and Feb. 15, will revamp pipeline from San

Joaquin Hills Road to Big Canyon.

For the third stage, the district will use robot technology to smooth

out the interior of an existing line. A new, smaller pipe will then be

inserted inside the existing one.

Along the northern section of Back Bay, an Orange County

erosion-control project has closed the other half of Back Bay Drive.

County workers are drilling 45 holes in a dirt slope along the road to

drain water into the bay via filters. Water in the slope has caused it to

weaken, said David Gaffaney, a county inspector on the project.

Workers are using a 60-ton crane to move a drill rig around the slope

to insert 100-foot-long drainage pipes horizontally into the hillside.

The county’s project, budgeted for about $625,000, began on Sept. 14.

It’s expected to be completed by May 14.

Once the projects are complete, the sanitation district and Newport

Beach will split the $120,000 cost of paving the 1.2 miles of Back Bay

Drive.

* Paul Clinton covers the environment and John Wayne Airport. He may

be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at o7