Posted on: Saturday, October 30, 2004

$400K grant a start for Kahana bridge

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer

U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said yesterday that $400,000 in federal grant money has been earmarked to begin work on a new bridge to replace the half-century old North Kahana Stream Bridge in Windward O'ahu.

The project called for a two-lane bridge with shoulders and pedestrian access, new pavement markings and an improved design to reduce flooding.

"This grant for a replacement bridge will help improve roadway safety along O'ahu's North Shore," said Mineta, who added that the bridge is important because it is part of the only evacuation route for North Shore residents.

Mineta said the new bridge would feature innovative technologies that will not only save lives but taxpayer dollars. The project will use self-consolidating concrete, a recently developed material that improves bridge appearance while reducing labor costs.

Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the cost of the bridge is $5.2 million. He said the grant is only part of the federal government's $4.1 million commitment to the project. The rest of the money will come from the state.

Ishikawa said he didn't know exactly when the work would begin, but that it's scheduled for sometime in fiscal 2005. He said Kamehameha Highway would remain open during the work.

"Usually when we do these types of projects we create a detour route around the existing bridge while it's under construction," Ishikawa said.

The bridge replacement is one of a number of similar projects planned for the Windward Coast, Ishikawa said.

Last year the state said it would spend $77 million through 2005 to either replace or upgrade nearly a dozen rural O'ahu bridges — five of which are along the Windward Coast.

The bridges in question were from 50 to 80 years old. A 1999 Federal Highway Administration found that 35 percent of the state's 1,150 bridges were considered "functionally obsolete," while another 16 percent were classified as "structurally deficient."

Nationally, the number of deficient or obsolete bridges average about 29 percent.

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.