KAPA‘A — The Pono Kai seawall, heavily damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, was rebuilt a year later. Since then, forces of nature kept taking the sand fronting the wall and eroding its foundation until a replacement wall became the
KAPA‘A — The Pono Kai seawall, heavily damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, was rebuilt a year later. Since then, forces of nature kept taking the sand fronting the wall and eroding its foundation until a replacement wall became the county’s choice rather than fixing it.
County officials each year give a time estimate for the replacement project to begin. The latest update from the administration was that the project would start this winter.
But the eroding wall is still there, ravaged by nature but untouched by man.
Parks and Recreation Director Lenny Rapozo told the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday the county has been replenishing the sand on the beach fronting the seawall. But he didn’t know the status of the seawall replacement because the project, he said, is not from his department.
In September 2007, The Garden Island reported that Oceanit, a Honolulu-based consulting firm, told the council that if repair work was not done, the entire 600-foot wall could collapse. The sinkholes seen behind the wall today were already there in 2007.
Oceanit consultants told council members the repair work needed would cost roughly $1.4 million, but then-Council Chair Kaipo Asing said the work was not necessary.
Then-county engineer Donald Fujimoto and then-Parks and Recreation Director Bernard Carvalho Jr. were supposed to work with Oceanit on the recommendations for the repair work and associated costs.
A year later, in October 2008, Fujimoto told the Kaua‘i County Council the only feasible option was to build a new revetment, or retaining wall, behind the wall. He said he was hoping the new seawall project would not exceed $2.5 million and would be completed by early 2011, according to The Garden Island archives.
In June 2010, Public Works Building Division Chief Doug Haigh, who
was also the project manager, told the Kaua‘i Planning Commission the
600-foot wall would be replaced by a 750-foot-long revetment wall.
The project was supposed to begin sometime between fall 2010 and the beginning of 2011, and was estimated to last about two months, according to Haigh. At that time, he said one of the challenges was coordinating with the Department of Health, which was holding on to permits to replenish the sand.
A year later in June, Haigh told the council the preliminary estimate for the wall was $1.5 million. “We’re hoping to start construction in the winter,” he said at the summer council meeting.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
