Posted on: Friday, January 17, 2003
Hawai'i briefs
Canal dredging slowed by wind
Dredging of the Ala Wai Canal was slowed this week when high winds caused choppy conditions on the ocean, preventing barges filled with sediment from being towed to the dumping site 3.8 miles offshore.
Neil Williams, project manager for contractor American Marine Corp., said it was just too windy to operate them without losing material out of the scow, so the company halted operations Wednesday.
"We decided it was just too rough and decided to stand down," Williams said.
Williams said the dump scows resumed work yesterday, but then a pipe broke on the barge-mounted crane and hydraulic clam bucket that scoops materials and dumps them into a scow. Operations are stalled until it can be fixed, but that was expected to be completed quickly, he said.
American Marine Corp. was awarded the contract last year to remove 170,000 cubic yards of sediment and to dredge the canal to a depth of 6 to 12 feet. Work along the two-mile canal is expected to be completed within a year.
Ala Wai festival set for Sunday
The 18th annual Ala Wai Canal Challenge canoe race and Hawaiian celebration will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Ala Wai Neighborhood Park and will feature live entertainment and food booths along the canal banks.
The event is a fund-raiser for the Waikiki Community Center and will begin with a double-hull canoe procession from the McCully bridge to the park at 8:30 a.m. followed by an oli (chant) and kahiko (ancient hula and songs) performed by the Kamehameha Schools Hawaiian Ensemble.
The quarter-mile, four-lane canoe races featuring 30 teams sponsored by local businesses and community groups will begin at 9 a.m. and the free Makahiki games will open at the same time.
Entertainers will include Bla Pahinui, Lopaka Colon, Guy Cruz, Ellsworth Simeona, Del Beazley and Ernie Cruz Jr.
Parking is available at the Ala Wai Community Center on Kapi'olani Boulevard near McCully Street, at Tokai University and at the Ala Wai Playground at the end of University Avenue.
For more information, call Jeff Apaka or Dave Hamil at 923-1802.
Kaua'i positions still vacant
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Architect Ian Costa, the deputy county engineer and former deputy planning director, has been named to replace retiring Planning Director Dee Crowell.
The move leaves the new administration of Mayor Bryan Baptiste with both the county engineer and deputy county engineer's posts vacant. Costa was not able to take the county engineer's job because it requires a licensed engineer with at least five years' training.
County officials have complained that the county engineer's post is difficult to fill, in part because the authorized annual pay of $69,371 is too low. Several employees within the Department of Public Works, which the county engineer administers, make more than that.
