Aliomanu sea wall repaired

Kaua’i County workers have been shoring up portions of Aliomanu Road to prevent it from being eroded by high surf that first pounded the shoreline more than a month ago.

The repair work, which started Tuesday, will ensure continued use of the road by the public, including native Hawaiians who live in the area.

The work by the county drew a complaint from a Anahola homeowner, Carol Lemke, contending the county was improperly taking rocks from the ocean to protect the road.

Lemke also filed a complaint with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over beach areas. She said she plans to seek out assistance of Kauai County Council chairman Kaipo Asing.

Lemke contends as well that the erosion is caused by a seawall that is located north of the worksite.

Russell Sugano, chief of operations for the highway division of the kauai County Public Works Department, said the work crews, using heavy equipment, have been positioning boulders along a few hundred feet of the coastline.

The workers, he said, are merely putting back rocks that wave action had taken way.

“The boulders were a natural barriers to protect the road, and they were removed a month or so ago (by high surf),” Sugano said.

The road is under no threat of breaking up or not being unusable at this point, Sugano said.

However, the road will erode eventually if the boulders are not put back, Sugano said. “People inland (who use the road to get to homes along Aliomanu Road) will be trapped (if the road erodes),” Sugano said. “It is their only way in and out.”

Sugano said the county workers are not using any extra rocks to refortify the coastline and the road. “We did not move one pebble from there,” Sugano said.

The work could be completed by the end of the week, he said.

Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net