LIHU‘E — It was deja vu all over again two weeks ago at the Kaua‘i County Council. The latest development in the Kapaia Swinging Bridge project brings its price tag right back to its original estimate of seven figures, as
LIHU‘E — It was deja vu all over again two weeks ago at the Kaua‘i County Council. The latest development in the Kapaia Swinging Bridge project brings its price tag right back to its original estimate of seven figures, as federal funds are being courted.
The 125-foot swinging bridge, built in 1948, was functional until September 2006, when it was deemed unsafe and shut down. A consultant originally priced the bridge’s restoration at more than $4 million. Since then, estimates have tethered up and down, depending on the nature of the proposal and who came up with it.
In August 2011, the administration said it would look into securing the bridge’s two towers, and the work would cost roughly $60,000. At that time, the county had approximately $111,000 in a fund especially set aside to be used toward saving the bridge.
At a council meeting Oct. 24, Deputy County Engineer Lyle Tabata told council members that the heavy storms in March caused further and extensive damage to the bridge, and since then the county has been looking for additional sources of funding. He said the county attempted to get money from Federal Emergency Management Agency to restore the bridge, but was denied.
In preliminary discussions with the state Department of Transportation, monies from the federally funded State Transportation Improvement Program have been considered, Tabata said.
If STIP funds are used, it will trigger compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act and other costly improvements, according to Tabata, who wasn’t able to give Council Chair Jay Furfaro an exact estimate for the project.
“But we do have the original estimate from the original Kai Hawai‘i study; it was approximate $5 million,” said Tabata, adding that the cost of the project would include acquisition of a portion of the surrounding lands.
Furfaro said there were two “trains of thought.” One scope would be using the bridge for transportation and public safety improvement, and the other scope would be restoring the bridge for its historic value.
“What avenue are you pursuing? Which way are you going?” Furfaro asked Tabata.
Tabata said the county is in discussions with the state DOT, and if the county does use STIP funds, “it has to be transportation.”
Laraine Moriguchi, from the Save Kapaia Bridge Foundation, showed up at the meeting half-way through Tabata’s presentation to the council, but caught the gist of it.
“I was kind of surprised at what’s happening, it seems like they are moving on a different direction for making a new bridge, and we knew nothing about this,” she said.
Moriguchi, a Kapaia landowner and resident, praised the council for not giving up on the issue, but saved some criticism to the administration.
“We are disappointed with the progress of the restoration,” she said.
In June 2011, Angie Westfall, Architecture Branch Chief at the State Historic Preservation Division, called the first plans proposed by the administration to restore the bridge a “Disneyland version” of the original historic bridge — wider and with longer access ramps to comply with ADA.
Councilman Mel Rapozo at the Oct. 24 council meeting criticized using STIP funds for the project, because even if most of the funding would come from federal sources, the county would still have to match 20 percent of it, potentially dishing out $1 million for the project.
But Rapozo was not in favor of abandoning the project. Rather, he criticized members of the administration and said if they wanted the bridge restored, they would’ve already done it. The administration is presenting a $5 million estimate to discourage the bridge from being restored, he said.
“It’s not a money issue, it’s a priority issue,” Rapozo said.
The March storm destroyed a good chunk of the bridge’s mid-section, and rushing waters spread debris in the area surrounding the bridge. But the foundations of both towers are still in place, according to Moriguchi.
Kapaia resident Nina Monasevitch said Moriguchi and somebody else personally removed all the debris by hand.
Millions or thousands?
If the entire project ends up costing taxpayers $5 million, each foot of the 125-foot bridge would cost $40,000.
But according to at least one area resident, the cost of a single foot of the bridge in the consultant’s estimate would be enough to cover the entire bridge’s restoration, and even throw a party afterward — as long as the party is not priced by the consultant.
In August of 2011, a Kapaia resident said he picked up the bridge’s original blue print, went to a local retailer and priced each piece of wood in the bridge.
The total cost for every single piece of wood in the bridge was approximately $9,000, and the suspension cables would cost an extra $3,000, he said. Additionally, some local contractors priced the materials at a higher cost that he did, at about $25,000, he said — still considerably lower than the consultant’s estimate.
But according to the administration, it would cost $400,000 for the wood alone if Douglas fir is used. If redwood is used, it would cost $800,000 for the wood alone. Those numbers were provided by county Managing Director Gary Heu at a council meeting August 2011.
In July 2011, Kapaia resident Kimo St. John asked the council for $20,000 to secure the bridge’s two towers.
The administration came back to the council in August 2011, and County Engineer Larry Dill said the consultant estimated bracing the bridge’s towers would cost $60,000. But because bracing the towers would cost approximately the same as replacing the wood in the towers, the administration would rather be pursuing the replacement, Dill told the council last year.
Meanwhile, Kapaia Swinging Bridge, once the spinal chord of Kaua‘i’s former commercial hub in a era when plantations thrived, continues to deteriorate. While its historic value, recognized by the National Register, still stands tall and strong, its pieces keep falling apart.
The administration is supposed to update the council again on the project in December.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
