Forensic engineer in a case where a blockage of a City sewer caused sewage to flood a store in Southern California. The City maintained that the blockage could not have been in the City line since other connected properties did not flood and since the upstream manhole showed no signs of having been flooded. Investigations revealed that other nearby buildings were connected to a different sewer and/or were at a higher elevation than the flooded store. It was also discovered that the person reporting that the upstream manhole showed no signs of having flooded was unaware that a different City crew had rebuilt the manhole subsequent to the incident. When the incident was fully understood, the City paid the full amount of the claim.
Bonneau Dickson, PE
