Ala Wai dredging project to begin in July
Advertiser Staff
The long-awaited dredging of the Ala Wai Canal is expected to begin in July, according to Andrew Monden, chief engineer for the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The contract was awarded last year to American Marine Corp., which submitted the lowest bid of $7.4 million to remove 170,000 cubic yards of sediment.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 4, 2002
Monden said the contractor still needs a few permits, but the company is expected to begin moving in equipment in June and will start the actual dredging in mid-July. From that point, officials expect the project to be complete in about a year.
The Ala Wai Canal is filled with sediment and other pollutants, and in some sections is only inches deep.
The DLNR will hold a public information meeting on the project near the end of June, Monden said.
The two-mile-long canal was last dredged in 1978 and is now filled with dirt and debris. The canal collects and drains water from Manoa, Palolo, Makiki and surrounding areas. It acts as a catchment basin, trapping sediments and other pollutants, but without ocean circulation, it has slowly filled and in some sections is only inches deep at low tide.
Canoe paddlers must either avoid certain areas or take the chance of hitting bottom while practicing in the canal.
Kalihi residents support the dredging, but oppose plans to dump the dredged material into the ocean near Sand Island.
Monden has said no hazardous materials will be dumped into the ocean.
The state submitted core samples to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which has authorized the state's plan to dump the dredged materials about 3.8 miles off Honolulu International Airport. About 1,800 cubic yards of contaminated material will be treated on land.
