Posted at 3:34 p.m., Friday, October 27, 2006
Army Corps to inspect dams for quake damage
Advertiser Staff
HILO, Hawai'i — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is deploying a team of eight dam safety specialists to survey dams in the wake of the Oct. 15 earthquakes.The Army Corps will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state Department of Land and Natural Resources to inspect 84 high-hazard dams starting Oct. 29, with the inspections conducted over two weeks.
"This work will be done under a FEMA Technical Assistance Mission," said Derek Chow, Honolulu District's project manager for the Dam Safety Inspection Mission. "We (the Corps) are coordinating with state officials on the scope, timing and other requirements."
Initial inspections on the Big Island and Maui have been completed by non-Corps resources. However, Big Island dams will be re-inspected by the Corps.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation will complete Maui dam inspections Oct. 28, and no further inspections of Maui dams will be conducted by the Corps.
Five Corps geotechnical engineers will inspect Kaua`i dams, while three Corps geotechnical engineers will survey the Big Island dams and then the O`ahu dams.
The inspections will be conducted in accordance with the "Hawaii Dam Safety Guidelines: Seismic Analysis & Post-Earthquake Inspections," which can viewed on the state DLNR website at http://www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/ under Dam Safety Program.
