Fire & Life Safety

Outdoor basketball court collapses at California high school

Paved surface over a water-collection basin gives way at Linda Esperanza Marquez High School in Huntington Park.
April 13, 2016

A paved outdoor basketball court that sits over a water collection basin at a California high school has collapsed.

KABC-TV reports that a 45-by-75-foot crater, eight feet deep, has appeared on the courts outside Linda Esperanza Marquez High School in Huntington Park.

Officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District say the pavement is collapsing into a man-made basin that the district created to collect rainwater. Similar basins have been installed at about 40 other district schools, but none has resulted in a collapse comparable to the one at Marquez.

The courts have been fenced off and inaccessible to students and others since the beginning of the year, when cracks in pavement and settling were detected.

The district is confident that the crater will not grow any larger, and workers have begun repairs at the site. The work is expected to take two to three months.

Video from KABC-TV:

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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