The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Land and Natural Resources team that was formed in the wake of the Ka Loko dam disaster in March was recently honored at the annual Honolulu District’s Awards Townhall meeting.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Land and Natural Resources team that was formed in the wake of the Ka Loko dam disaster in March was recently honored at the annual Honolulu District’s Awards Townhall meeting.
District Commander Lt. Col. Charles H. Klinge honored DLNR chairman Peter Young Dec. 4 for his leadership and teamwork efforts.
Klinge presented the Hui O’ Loa (best team) Award to Young and other members of the Corps’ Dam Visual Conditions Survey Project Delivery Team, which was formed by the Corps and the state after the dam breached on March 14 and killed seven people.
The Corps conducted the state of Hawai‘i-funded survey under the direction of the DLNR Dam Safety Officer and inspected 87 dams on Kaua‘i, the Big Island, Maui, Moloka‘i and O‘ahu to help identify any potential danger to the public after weeks of rain had caused wide-spread flooding in the spring of 2006.
The survey team, led by Honolulu District Hydraulic Engineer Derek Chow, included geotechnical and emergency management experts from the state, the Corps’ Honolulu District and Pacific Ocean Division, the Corps’ Engineering Research Development Center, the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture and personnel from other Corps districts as well as support staff.
According to Klinge, Young was instrumental in guiding the PDT to deliver “a high quality project in terms of budget, schedule, quality, customer satisfaction and safety.”
Young says the DLNR relies heavily on the Corps to accomplish its objectives.
“We have an important partnership with the Corps which helps us fulfill our mission,” Young said in a statement. “I think a lot of folks don’t realize the many interfaces we have with the Corps. They continually assist us in a variety of ways.”
DLNR manages natural and cultural resources within the state’s public lands and waters.
“We overlap on so many missions, from engineering and flood control to sediment management,” Young said. “That’s one reason our partnership with the Corps is so critical.”
Young says it’s good to be able to count on the Corps’ assistance in emergency situations and its expertise for a variety of projects, and that one of DLNR’s greatest challenges is finding funding resources for their many projects.
“That’s another reason our relationship with the Corps is so crucial,” he said. “We have to be careful to stay away from duplicating our efforts. That way we maximize the benefits of the taxpayers’ money.”
Coordinating activities help keep costs low and benefits all inhabitants of Hawai‘i — human, plant and wildlife, Young said.
The DLNR and the Corps work closely together on a number of civil works projects to make harbors safe and help manage Hawai‘i’s abundance of natural and cultural resources.
Recently the Corps provided structural inspections of high-hazard dams and other public structures on the Big Island after the Oct. 15 6.7 and 6.0 magnitude earthquakes rattled the Waikoloa area.
The FEMA-funded Corps survey team inspected 15 schools, four hospitals, 29 public buildings, 35 bridges, 86 dams and one tunnel.
