Plans under way to fix falling wall protecting Waikiki Beach

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s most visited beach will wash away if the 89-year-old wall holding it together crumbles down.

Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources is considering six repair options for Waikiki Beach’s erosion barrier, which officials fear could fail at any time, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (https://bit.ly/1SjzOM4).

University of Hawaii Sea Grant Program coastal hazards expert Dolan Eversole says the beach would disappear in months without the wall.

“It is literally holding together Waikiki Beach,” he said.

Cost estimates range from $880,000 to $1.7 million. The Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District Association on Monday endorsed the project and agreed to pay half of the project costs, with a cap at $750,000.

Hospitality Advisors estimates losing the beach could decrease visitor spending by $2 billion annually, drop tax revenue by $150 million and cause the loss of 6,350 hotel industry jobs.

Sea Engineering Inc. is consulting with the land department. Costal engineer and vice president Scott Sullivan says the wall, also called a groin, is the only one of eight built in the 1920s that has not fallen.

“It’s amazing that it survived all this time,” he said. “It could fail at any time.”

Waikiki Beach fronts three hotels, including the Royal Hawaiian. Certain repair options would actually add beach in some areas.

City lifeguards have said they worry about the safety of groin designs that are wider and potentially accessible by tourists, who could walk on and jump from the barrier.

Officials will recommend a plan to the Board of Land and Natural Resources after meeting with the public and obtaining input. The board will then decide next steps.

With permit approvals, construction could start early in 2017 and is expected to take between 60 and 90 days.