Replacing the pedestrian overpass destroyed in this week's gridlock-inducing accident on the H-1 Freeway will cost at least $500,000, the state transportation director said yesterday.

And that doesn't include the $150,000 spent on tearing down the existing structure.

"We're hoping that we can have the new structure in place by the end of this year," Transportation Director Rod Haraga said.

The state attorney general's office is preparing preliminary cost estimates for the emergency replacement contract, said Haraga, who added that he could only guess at the expected total price to replace the damaged overpass.

Other, unrelated costs from the massive traffic jam include $21,000 in city overtime incurred by bus drivers stuck in traffic. What's more, the likely cost to drivers stuck in the traffic jam for up to eight hours on Tuesday night could total hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost time and gas, according to transportation experts.

A survey of recently contracted pedestrian bridge projects elsewhere in the country suggests that typical costs range from $500,000 to $2 million, according to Federal Highway Administration reports.

Engineers in Hawai'i are anticipating building an 80-foot precast, prestressed beam off-site and then hoisting it into place over the freeway in an operation that could be done all in one night, Haraga said.

"A lot of the time and cost is going to depend on whether a casting bed is available to do the job here," Haraga said. If not, costs for the project could soar, he said.

"We're going to replace the bridge in kind. We're lucky that under existing (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements we won't have to replace the approach ramps for the structure," he said.

All of the work will be done under emergency procurement procedures, allowing DOT to bypass lengthy contract bidding procedures for the work, he said.

TRAFFIC JAMS COSTLY

The repairs will be paid entirely by DOT funds, and the attorney general's office will be in charge of seeking reimbursement from the military, Haraga said.

Other traffic officials said that this week's late-night gridlock on the freeway and surrounding roads could add significantly to the price motorists already pay for congestion on O'ahu.

At least two recent national reports indicated that O'ahu drivers spend an average of 19 hours a year stuck in traffic jams at a total cost of $147 million annually, or about $339 per driver.

A Reason Foundation report on traffic congestion released last week suggested that fuel costs caused by delays in Hawai'i amounted to about $21 million two years ago, when the cost of a gallon of gasoline was still about $1.75 per gallon.

The report, which said Honolulu ranks 42nd in the nation in congestion among major metropolitan areas, needs to build another 320 lane miles of road by 2030 to meet growing traffic problems.

661 HOURS OF OVERTIME

TheBus officials said yesterday that Tuesday night's traffic jam resulted in 661 hours of overtime for bus drivers unable to complete their routes on time.

"We had reports of some drivers who were on the road seven hours longer than they should have been," said Roger Morton, president and general manager of O'ahu Transit Services, which operates the city bus system.

On Wednesday, OTS had to cancel 41 of its normal 4,000 bus runs for lack of drivers, he said. Many of the drivers were barred by federal regulation from returning to work with less than eight hours break.

Drivers and passengers were equally frustrated by the rides, which sometimes stretched into hour after hour of delay, he said.

"There were a lot of shi-shi problems and concerns about running out of gas," he said. Some drivers pulled over near public parks to allow passengers to use restrooms, while other buses were diverted to a Pearl City maintenance facility for more gas and restroom breaks, Morton said.

City, state and military officials yesterday continued to investigate Tuesday's accident.

Police confirmed that they were looking into reports that the Army truck with a hydraulic excavator on board damaged at least four overhead freeway signs before striking the overpass that spans the freeway between 'Aiea High School and Alvah A. Scott Elementary School. There were no reports that the truck had hit another vehicle during its trip from Pearl Harbor, said police spokesman Michelle Yu.

ARMY INVESTIGATION

Army spokesman Col. John C. Williams said that a military investigator has been appointed and has begun looking into facts surrounding Tuesday's accident. Williams could not estimate how long the investigation would take.

"He's doing his job even as we speak, and the goal is to do it as quickly as he can," Williams said.

Under Army regulations, the 15-6 type investigation involves either informal or formal proceedings that allow the investigating officer "to gather evidence and make findings of fact and appropriate recommendations to the appointing authority."

DOT spokesman Scott Ishi-kawa said military trucks are allowed to use the freeway system if they meet all requirements on a two-page permit that has to be filed with the department in advance, he said.

"It all depends on the size and the load. Sometimes it's OK to use the freeway, and sometimes we advise them to take another route," he said.

Transportation officials have said the Army did not apply for the required permit before the truck began its journey.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.