cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
BY CHELSEA JENSEN | WEST HAWAII TODAY
Almost $1.1 million in federal emergency funds is headed to Hawaii County to cover repairs to the Kailua Pier damaged by the March 11 tsunami.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency funds will reimburse the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation for work to repair the damaged wharf, said Ed Underwood, the division’s administrator.
State funding has already been allocated with the release of some $7 million in funds by Gov. Neil Abercrombie for tsunami-related repair work, he said.
The repair work will not shut down the pier completely, Underwood said. The division plans work in stages, with shut downs only where work is active.
Among the work planned is paving, re-facing embankments, repairing pumps, utilities and the comfort station, as well as restoring 4,650 square yards of four-inch thick concrete pavement, he said.
Underwood was unable to say when work might begin or provide an estimated completion date. He referred calls on the project to the division’s lead engineer, Eric Yuasa, who did not respond by press time.
The pier was damaged in the March 11 tsunami when more than 200 waves, with recorded heights reaching 4.5 feet above the pier’s deck, surged ashore, according to a Tuesday prepared statement from U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka and U.S. Reps. Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa, all Hawaii Democrats.
Since the tsunami, Underwood said the division has made temporary repairs, including work on the comfort station, that have kept the pier operational. The pier was never closed despite the damage.
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com