Repairs leave state building wet

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Replacing crumbling sidewalks and installing new waterproofing at the state's Kalanimoku Building will take a year longer than originally planned and cost taxpayers at least $200,000 more because rainwater leaked into the basement after part of the work was completed.

The building on Punchbowl Street, near the Capitol, contains the offices of the Department of Accounting and General Services — the agency in charge of most state construction projects, including this one.

The project was supposed to cost $589,220 and take about five months to complete. But the problems have driven the project's cost up to $782,099 so far and pushed the contractual completion date back a full year, to October, meaning the work is taking about three times longer than planned.

The project could be finished sooner, but pending change orders will likely increase its cost by $80,000 more, according to Larry Uyehara, the department's chief of quality control for public works projects.

"I think a lot of people are exasperated at how long this thing is taking," he said.

The building has been settling unevenly for years, and some segments of the sidewalk had buckled and could cause people to trip because they were uneven with other sections, department deputy director Mary Alice Evans said. Wheelchair ramps were also needed so the building would be more accessible to the disabled.

The sidewalks are also above the roof of a basement where some of Hawai'i's most essential computers handle the state's central accounting system and process payroll, unemployment and welfare checks.

Water that had leaked into the basement over the years because of the irregular settling was stopped by sealant injected into problem areas. Officials wanted to install a more permanent seal around the whole building to make sure the computers and other equipment would be protected as the building settles more.

"There's a very serious concern about water damage to the state's computers," Evans said. "It's very important to protect them. This is not just cosmetic."

But after the sidewalks were ripped up and a new waterproof membrane was installed under new sidewalks on one side of the building, leakage into the basement was worse than it had been before.

The water caused some minor damage, but the computers were not harmed in any significant way, Evans said, and officials wanted to ensure that the leakage didn't continue or get worse.

Repairs stopped the leaks and several huge outdoor planters were waterproofed to make sure rainwater they collected would not seep into the building. Other large planters were removed.

And a different waterproofing material, more expensive than the one used, was purchased for the rest of the job. That membrane is more flexible and will bend as the building settles, Evans said.

So far, the basement does not leak, she said.

Uyehara said officials are not sure whether the membrane installed on the first part of the project leaked. But, suspecting that it did leak, they decided to replace the materials being used.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.