PORT ALLEN — A 40-foot section of Pier B was removed yesterday from the Port Allen Small Boats Harbor, leaving boat owners scratching their heads as to how to reach their vessels. The Department of Land and Natural Resources, which
PORT ALLEN — A 40-foot section of Pier B was removed yesterday from the Port Allen Small Boats Harbor, leaving boat owners scratching their heads as to how to reach their vessels.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources, which governs the harbor, demolished the segment of corroded concrete to make way for a new, structurally sound replacement. The only problem is that the replacement is not scheduled for installation until July 2008.
The removed section was condemned in September by DLNR engineers, and signs went up to stop use. All 21 slips are impacted by the closing of this main pier segment, as it is the first of six that make up the main walkway.
In the interim, some boaters plan to use a dinghy to get to their boats in their normal slips. In addition, DLNR is allowing affected commercial slip holders to use the loading dock to load and unload passengers.
Kaua‘i Rep. Roland Sagum, D-District 16, and two O‘ahu legislators stopped by the harbor Monday to see the deteriorated infrastructure and talk with harbor staff and about a dozen boat owners. Sagum and others unsuccessfully appealed to DLNR Chair Laura Thielen last week to cancel the demo and shore up the segment with steel beams until a permanent replacement is ready.
“We appreciate the concerns of the boaters who will be affected and their desire to have a solution as soon as possible,” reads a DLNR statement. “We have considered temporary fixes and have determined the temporary fix costs to be close to the cost for the permanent fix. Also the temporary fix may take almost as long as the permanent fix, so even if we were to go the route of the temporary, there would still be some time when the pier is not readily accessible.”
DLNR’s structural engineering consultant is currently designing a permanent fix. The department says it plans to procure the new dock in accordance with the small purchase procurement rules, to avoid going through the “lengthy and time consuming” formal bid process.
Of the harbor’s 40 total slips for the two piers, about 15 are commercial, and there is a long waiting list to get a spot at Port Allen.
