Posted on: Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Marina dredging finally complete

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

HAWAI'I KAI — Nearly 10 years since the work was first proposed, dredging at the mouth of the Hawai'i Kai Marina is complete, opening two channels for boats to get to and from Maunalua Bay.

The dredging, paid with $200,000 in taxpayer money, was completed two weeks ago, said Jaap Suyderhoud, Hawai'i Kai Marina Association president.

Sand taken from the channel was used to replenish the beach along Portlock, and a sandbag groin has been placed at Portlock Beach to keep sand from migrating back to the channel, which is now 7 feet deep.

"It's been a very long struggle," Suyderhoud said. "It's great it's done. We're ready to put up signs because boaters don't know that we have two channels open now. They're used to one for in and out."

As long as a decade ago only one channel was open under the Kalaniana'ole Bridge, generating safety concerns and prompting the call for dredging.

While the marina is privately owned, the area under the bridge and extending into the ocean is public property.

The Legislature set aside money for the project in 1993.

But delays arose amid questions about whether the use of taxpayer money was appropriate, whether the sand could move back into the dredged area and how dredging would affect the rest of Maunalua Bay.

The state land board denied the final objection in 2001 and cleared the way for the work.

The channel is heavily used by ocean recreation businesses that take customers to Maunalua Bay. The marina association, which owns the private marina, had planned to start the project last year, but lacked state permits.

The only remaining task involves extending the sandbag groin an additional 50 feet into the bay and watching to ensure it indeed keeps the beach sand from drifting, Suyderhoud said.

"The state is monitoring the sandbag groin," Suyderhoud said. "The extension will give us better results — that's what our consultants said.

"We still have to exercise caution because we don't know how long it will last."

Sam Lemmo, state Department of Land and Natural Resources senior land division planner, said the extension will make the groin function better than the existing 90-foot groin. Sandbag groins tend to keep sand on the beach, rather than eroding toward the mouth of a channel, Lemmo said.

"The purpose of this is to prevent the sand from going back into the boat channel," Lemmo said. "This was a channel dredging project and the beach restoration was secondary. Dredging is expensive, so the thought was the groin might defer the need to dredge in the future."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.