City plans $2.5M sewer project near jail, Sand Island

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

•	Comment sought To comment on the Nimitz Highway sewer reconstruction project, write to: City Department of Design and Construction, 650 South King St., Honolulu, HI 96813. Attn: Sung Ho Lai. Include copies for consultant Limtiaco Consulting Group and the Office of Environmental Quality Control.

The 16-inch sewer line was installed in 1921 and is made of terra cotta pipe. A portion of the line is directly beneath Continental Mechanical's Pu'uhale Place warehouse, making maintenance difficult, said Tim Steinberger, director of the city Department of Design and Construction.

"It's a planned project, and one we have to do," Steinberger said. "Continental Mechanical has this huge building right over the top of the line and that is really a bad part of this system. We are looking to reroute it along their long driveway."

The jail uses the sewer line, and inmates sometimes stuff objects down the toilets, clogging the lines, he said.

The city last week filed a draft environmental assessment for the project with the state Office of Environmental Quality Control. The office is accepting public comment through Jan. 22.

Work is expected to begin in early 2005 and to take about six months to complete.

Steinberger said the sewer pipes beneath Nimitz Highway will be replaced using cured-in-place pipe lining, a process that places a fiberglass pipe inside the existing pipe so that the road will not have be torn up. But some of the work will involve open-cut trenching in the left-turn lanes from Nimitz to Sand Island Access Road because the pipes are sagging in that area, and where new pipes are placed along Continental Mechanical's driveway.

Bernadette Young, chairwoman of the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board, said Kalihi is one of the oldest neighborhoods on O'ahu and much of its infrastructure needs to be replaced.

Young said the area is congested with traffic, and noted that the state is running its contraflow demonstration project in the area. She suggested the construction be done at night.

Steinberger agreed, saying the plan is to start work after the evening rush hour and be done by 5 a.m. If the contraflow lane is made permanent, the city will coordinate with the state to make sure it is not affected.

The city has a 20-year work plan for sewer pipes, coordinated with the Environmental Protection Agency, and work is "pretty much right on schedule," he said.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.