Navy to secure Moanalua boulder
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Don Metzger's home in Moanalua Valley lies directly below a 60-ton boulder, and he's hoping steel cables being strapped to it will avert a devastating rock slide.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's one of those things that you wish wasn't there, but I don't stay awake at night worrying about it, either," said Metzger, who lives in an area where boulders regularly come down the hill. "Who knows which way it would tumble if it did tumble?"
Laura Lei Kekauoha-Metzger and Don Metzger, with their daughters Dawn Hoshino, left, and Cherie Hoshino, in the patio of their Moanalua Valley home.
The boulder is perched more than 100 feet above the Ala Lani Street home where Metzger, his wife and two daughters live.
Last year, a 3,000-pound rock rolled onto his neighbor's lanai. Luckily, no one was hurt.
"The Navy had to come and jackhammer it to get it out, it was so big," Metzger said. "My guess is that kind of keyed them to go check what else is up there, and that is how they happened to find this one."
The homes are on private land, but the boulder lies on property owned by the Navy, which is spending $225,000 to strap down the huge rock.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis said a geological survey of the area found 49 boulder sites, with 28 boulders on Navy land and the rest on private property.
Davis said the 60-ton rock is the only one being worked on because it is so large (11 feet wide, 14 feet tall and 7 1/2 feet thick) and shows signs of recent movement.
"There is an opening in the back joint between one and four feet wide that has been partially filled with soil," he said. "That is an indication that it has moved in the past and may be somewhat loose. That is a cause of concern for us and we decided to take this action to secure it, so that if there is any more movement it is not going to fall down and put people at risk."
Davis said a letter detailing the project was sent to 40 homes in the area last week. In mid-November, contractor Environmental Chemical Corp. and two subcontractors will secure the boulder with stainless steel straps and nets. Work is expected to take about three weeks.
The team specializes in rockfall mitigation and has safely completed similar projects in Makapu'u, in Hawai'i Kai and along Waimea Bay, Davis said.
In recent years, boulders have fallen also in residential areas, including in Kailua, Hawai'i Kai, Nu'uanu and Nanakuli.
In September, a National Park Service ranger died when a boulder fell 40 feet and struck her on a remote East Maui road in Haleakala National Park.
In Nu'uanu and elsewhere, residents have put up expensive rock-catching fences to try to protect their property. Others have hired consultants to survey the property above their homes and assess the potential danger.
"If there are residences in the potential path of the (Moanalua) boulder, I would think that the experts would want the residences vacated until the boulder is secured and or removed," said Patrick Onishi, whose daughter, Dara Rei Onishi, was killed when a 5-ton boulder crashed through his Nu'uanu home in 2002. "If residents are aware of the hazardous conditions, I'm sure that they are experiencing anxiety, fear and the loss of sleep. I hope that the Navy acts quickly."
Davis said residents do not need to be evacuated.
"I don't think it rises to that level of concern, but it is something that requires some precautionary measure to reduce the hazard," he said. "We strongly do recommend that residents in that area take precautionary measures necessary to reduce the risk of rockfalls to their properties."
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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