Posted on: Thursday, April 28, 2005
Waikiki sand project kicked back
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
A demonstration project to replenish sand on Waikiki beach has been put off until the fall to avoid summer swells and obtain final permits, according to state officials.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser "We had a couple permitting delays," Eversole said. "The delays have now pushed up against the summer southern swell window. In order to avoid any complications with having to pull everything out of Waikiki during a south swell, we are going to wait until fall."
Once started, the project is expected to take 20 to 30 days and will bring up about 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand.
A barge will be moored about 2,000 feet offshore above a sand bank identified in a University of Hawai'i survey as having plentiful, clean sand. The barge will be equipped with a hydraulic sand dredge and connected to a submerged pipeline system to the beach.
The pumped sand will be allowed to dry and heavy equipment then will be used to push it where sand is needed on the beach.
During public hearings on the project last fall, George Downing, a founding member of the group Save Our Surf, and beach concession operators said they were worried that removing the sand below prime surf spots would affect the waves. They asked that a study be done before the project starts.
The question is whether the prevailing current moves parallel to the beach or flows straight out to sea. A flow toward the sea would carry sand from the beach and deposit it back on the ocean floor, which surfers believe could affect the waves.
Eversole said the test showed the dominant direction of transport is along the shore toward the Royal Hawaiian, then out to the rip current in front of the hotel and away from surf spots.
According to the state, some 250,000 cubic yards of sand have been added to the beach at Waikiki since the 1930s. Much of that has been swept along by the prevailing currents and now rests offshore.
State officials are hoping the technology will become affordable and practical enough to be used across the state, as it is on the Mainland.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
The $500,000 sand replenishment project, which will suck sand up from the ocean, collect it in offshore beds and pump it onto the beach, was expected to begin last fall. The work had been rescheduled for March and is now expected to take place in October, according to Dolan Eversole, a coastal geologist with the Sea Grant Extension Service.
Marty Maier, a tourist vacationing from Michigan, steps down to an eroded part of Kuhio Beach yesterday near the Waikiki police substation. The sand reclamation project for beaches in Waikiki will suck up sand from the ocean and pump it onto the beach.
In September, the state conducted a test of how beach-sand replenishment would affect waves by pouring about seven ounces of fluorescent dye into the water near the Duke Kahanamoku statue every 30 minutes over a 12-hour period to see where it flowed.
