Collapsed piers to be replaced at Ala Wai Harbor

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state is planning to replace five piers serving 10 boats at Ala Wai Harbor after one of the small concrete piers collapsed into the water Oct. 27.

This concrete pier at Ala Wai Harbor used to extend to the column still standing in the water before the pier collapsed Oct. 27. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

The unexpected maintenance job comes as the state is just about to embark on a complete replacement of an entire floating dock serving up to 80 boats at the harbor, at a cost of more than $1 million.

The harbor, which is run by the Division of Boating and Recreation of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, has moorings for about 1,000 boats, about 200 of which have been leased to nearby yacht clubs and others.

The backlog of repairs at the statewide harbor system has been estimated at more than $100 million.

Gov. Ben Cayetano has proposed that Ala Wai be privatized to bring in more revenues and capital, while state harbor officials have suggested substantial increases in fees to improve conditions.

Boat owner Dave Meehan, cleaning an engine on Dock G yesterday, said officials at the harbor are doing the best they can with limited resources, and that most tenants in the harbor fear privatization because it might bring fees for berths even higher than those proposed by the state.

Two people were standing on the finger pier between slips 724 and 725 when it suddenly gave way on Oct. 27, and the two fell into the water. Neither was hurt nor were boats at the pier damaged, Harbor Agent Robert Rushforth said.

He said engineers examined every other pier in the 700 row and identified four which could be replaced at the same time as the one that collapsed. "It's not that the other piers were about to collapse, but they were candidates for replacement at the same time," to save on costs he said.

Cost of the pier work has not been determined.

Rushforth said he knew of only one other instance of a finger pier collapsing during his 18 years at the harbor. He said it happened about ten years ago. He said he did not know how anyone could have forecast the collapse.

The apparent cause is rusting of steel compression rods placed in the concrete pier structures when they were poured, he said.

Boats moored at the five finger piers are being given berths elsewhere in the harbor.

At the same time, officials have notified as many as 40 visiting boat owners that they will have to vacate the harbor to make room for boats of resident owners that will be relocated from Floating Dock G so that it can be removed and replaced.

Rushforth said he would like to see the other four floating docks in the harbor replaced as well, but that money is available only for Dock G.

The harbors are supposed to be self-supporting, operated with money from fees charged for berth rentals.

Rushforth said the new dock, to be built out of plastic floats and an aluminum superstructure topped by plastic wood decking, will be the best dock in Hawai'i when it is finished in about four months.

The existing dock, more than 30 years old, is made of concrete floats in wood frames, with rusting steel plates linking the floats. It is marked with pot holes and patches, and one float at the end of the dock appears about to sink.

Rushforth said the new type of floating dock will cost more initially than concrete floats, but should last longer and require far less in costly maintenance.

Rushforth said engineers are considering replacing the five finger piers with a similar combination of aluminum framework and plastic wood decking, as a possible prototype for replacement of other finger piers in the future.

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.