Boulder on H-1 causes crash

By Peter boylan and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers

A sport utility vehicle struck a boulder that had rolled down a hillside and onto the H-1 Freeway after being dislodged by a construction crew at a Makakilo quarry yesterday.

The crash seriously injured the driver and a passenger. Leigh Ann Siaosi, older sister of University of Hawai'i quarterback Tim Chang, was one of the injured, a relative said. She underwent surgery yesterday.

Grace Pacific Corp., an asphalt paving and quarry company, said through a spokesman that the boulder, which measured 5 feet in diameter, fell around 8 a.m. yesterday while crews were working to refortify the quarry's lower rim wall.

"This was a rock that we dislodged," said Sidney Quintal, vice president for marketing at Grace Pacific Corp. "We deeply regret it. We're conducting a full-scale, in-depth investigation."

Quintal said this was the first time a rock has fallen from the quarry onto the freeway. The digging, excavating and bulldozing at the quarry yesterday were meant to prevent rockslides after the recent heavy rains, he said. He said Honolulu police have not contacted the company about the incident.

The boulder landed in the westbound lanes of the H-1 Freeway about a half-mile before the Makakilo off-ramp and was struck by the SUV, firefighters said.

Paramedics took the victims — Siaosi and a man whose name was not released —Êto The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition, said Donnie Gates, assistant chief of the city's Emergency Medical Services.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said the victims suffered leg injuries. Neither victim was pinned in the SUV, he said.

The boulder fell at 8:13 a.m. Westbound traffic was backed up for about an hour. Grace Pacific crews removed the boulder from the freeway by 9:30 a.m.

It appears that the SUV pushed the boulder before stopping, Tejada said.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the DOT initially sent out investigators thinking the boulder came from state-owned land.

Ishikawa said the DOT investigation is ongoing and that disciplinary action, if any, is pending. Ishikawa said the state has asked Grace Pacific to provide, in writing, a list of safety measures to be put in place to prevent a similar incident.

Last year, a state Department of Transportation survey identified 66 highway sites on O'ahu that have a high risk of rockfall. Fifty-one other areas were rated moderately high. Cost estimates to mitigate the top 10 sites alone total $89.5 million. The sites surveyed all are on state-owned land.

Ishikawa said that before the boulder hit the freeway, it rolled through a state-owned area that ranks 95th on the list of 112 state-owned sites recommended for mitigation.

"The study was based on natural rockfalls, not those by man-made causes," said Ishikawa.

The DOT already has spent millions to install rock catchment devices at Makapu'u and Waimea and to reshape the hillside at Castle Junction in Kailua.

According to the company's Web site, Grace Pacific purchased the stock of Pacific Concrete & Rock Co. from Baker International in 1984 and, as a result, secured the lease to the rock quarry in Makakilo. Grace merged the two companies, creating Grace Pacific Corp.

Falling boulders have killed people, damaged homes and disrupted traffic on several occasions in recent years.

Among incidents or potential incidents:

• The Navy is spending $225,000 to strap down a 60-ton boulder perched more than 100 feet above a private Moanalua Valley home after a survey of the property discovered the potential for it to fall.

• On Sept. 14, National Park Service ranger Suzanne Roberts died when she was struck by a boulder that fell 40 feet. She had been clearing rocks from a remote East Maui road in Haleakala National Park at the time.

• On May 13, a 10-ton boulder the size of a compact car plunged down a Nanakuli hillside and came to rest against a house. Within days the state moved to demolish and remove the boulder after 39 residents from 11 area homes were evacuated. It was determined the boulder had slipped from state land less than 30 feet away.

• On May 10 , a 1 1/2-ton boulder tumbled down a Nu'uanu hillside, narrowly missing Rose Hamakado as she stood in her back yard. That was on the same street where on Aug. 9, 2002, a 5-ton boulder crashed into a home, crushing and killing 26-year-old Dara Rei Onishi as she slept.

• In May 2003, a six-ton boulder perched on a Kalaheo Hillside ridge in Kailua was removed because of concerns by residents that it could fall onto homes below.

• In May 2003, landslides onto Kalani'anaole Highway near Castle Junction prompted the state to spend 19 months and $7.8 million to reshape the dangerously eroding cliff into a gently sloped, landscaped hillside.

Advertiser staff writer Robbie Dingeman contributed to this report. Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012. Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.

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