Sewer-pipe break opens up sinkhole on Kalaheo Avenue
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — A sinkhole caused by a damaged sewer pipe under the Kalaheo Avenue sewer replacement project has closed a segment of the road between Uilama and Ainoni streets to all but local traffic until the pipe is fixed.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The pipe broke while the contractor, Westcon Microtunneling Inc., was installing a work pit Monday afternoon, said Tim Steinberger, director of the city Department of Design and Construction. By 9 p.m. Monday, workers had installed a bypass around the broken section of pipe, Steinberger said yesterday.
Workers use sand to fill in a sinkhole on Kalaheo Avenue, between Ainoni and Uilama streets, in Kailua. City officials could not say yesterday how long the section of the roadway will be closed to all except local traffic.
He could not say how long the road would be closed. The contractor is using a camera to determine the extent of the damage and what needs to be done to fix it, according to Steinberger.
Until the repair work is completed, the road will remain closed except to local traffic, Steinberger said. One lane of the road had been open at night. Now motorists will not be able to drive the length of Kalaheo Avenue.
Steinberger said police or other traffic monitors will be on duty to redirect traffic.
No sewage spills were reported but about 30 gallons of sewage escaped through a cleanout hole on a vacant lot and was contained on the lot, Steinberger said. The cleanout hole was apparently left open when the house was demolished, he said.
"Our biggest concern is any type of backup and spill into people's houses," Steinberger said. "So they worked quickly to mitigate any problems like that."
The sandy soil and the fact that the damaged pipe is below water level has added to the problem, he said.
The city is replacing or rebuilding about 4,300 feet of sewer lines on Kalaheo Avenue in the $17 million project that is expected to be completed in six months.
The contractor is using a method called microtunneling to bore underground to replace 36-inch lines with 48-inch pipes. This avoids major trenching on the road.
The project stalled three years ago after the original contractor ran into rock-hard coral. The new contractor began in April.
The project is necessary to replace deteriorating and old sewer lines.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com. or 234-5266.
