7th Street Sweeper Maintenance Facility Upgrade
In June 2008, the City of Los Angeles completed a project to upgrade and retrofit the 7th Street Sweeper Maintenance Repair Facility located at 2310 E. 7th Street in Los Angeles. The 7th Street facility is one of the primary street sweeper repair facilities operated by the City, providing maintenance and repair service to seventy-nine (79) street sweepers. The upgrade will allow for the safe repair of street sweepers powered by clean-burning compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG, being a lighter-than-air gas, poses specific risks when vehicles are repaired indoors. Gas leaks, though extremely rare, can pose hazards when the gas becomes trapped within a building or other confined space.
To minimize safety risks and in order to provide a safe environment for the maintenance and repair of vehicles, the City performed major upgrades and retrofits to the facility. Modifications included: installation of gas detection and alarm systems; ventilation system upgrades, including installation of make up air units (MAU’s) and exhaust vents; replacement of the existing heating system; upgrade of all electrical equipment to comply with approved safety standards and codes; installation of approved fire-rated doors; sealing of any gaps or openings in walls and ceilings; installation of fire sprinklers; and separating the natural gas vehicle area from other areas of the building. In addition, the contractor provided training to City staff of the operation and function of the new systems.
Initial planning and design for the project began in 2005 with the City’s Department of Public Works-Bureau of Engineering handling all aspects of the design. A Request for Bid was issued in August 2006 with a contract awarded to the successful bidder, Golden Acquisition Corp. (dba EFS West), in February 2007. Construction began in March 2007.
The City of Los Angeles has long been a leader in the adoption and use of alternative fuels and clean fuel technologies. The City has been actively retiring its fleet of diesel-powered street sweepers and replacing them with CNG models since 2002. Each sweeper replaced with a CNG model represents an annual displacement of approximately 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel and provides a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over diesel. The replacement of the 79 diesel-powered sweepers maintained at the 7th Street facility with natural gas models represents a displacement of nearly 400,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually and nearly 2.8 milliongallons over the expectedlife of the sweepers.
In the coming years the City will operate its entire fleet of over 160 street sweepers on clean-burning natural gas. The 7th Street facility is the fifth maintenance facility upgraded for natural gas operations by the City and further demonstrates the City’s commitment to alternative fuels and improved air quality for the citizens of the greater Los Angeles area.
This project was funded in part with a Clean Transportation Funding™ grant provided by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC). These grants help fund various projects aimed at reducing air pollution from motor vehicles within the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California.