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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 10:55 a.m., Friday, May 11, 2007

Second tunnel completed in Waikiki wastewater project

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Contractors have finished boring the second wastewater tunnel under the Ala Wai Canal and Kai'olu Street in Waikiki.

The million-dollar microtunneling machine has been pulled out of the makai pit at the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Kai'olu Street. Contractors will now install a second set of pipes in the newest tunnel.

Both tunnels began in another pit near the Ala Wai Community Gardens, on the mauka side of the Ala Wai Canal. It was one of the longest microtunneling operations ever conducted in Hawai'i.

The 11-ton machine successfully bored two 1,100-foot tunnels 30 feet below the waters of the Ala Wai and under Kai'olu Street, where a major sewage spill occurred in March 2006.

The two new wastewater lines represent a key portion of the second phase of the Beachwalk Wastewater Emergency Bypass project.

Crews will now focus on completing the pits on both ends of the tunnels. Then they will connect the two new microtunneled lines to the Beachwalk Pump Station makai of Kuhio Avenue late this month.

Workers plan to activate the force main with the two new state-of-the-art lines by the end of June, and cease using the aging sewer line that broke 14 months ago under Kai'olu Street.

The city and contractors ask for the public's patience as work continues. By next week workers will reopen the free on-street parking on Kai'olu Street, with occasional closing of portions to make necessary road repairs.

For weekly updates visit www.beachwalkbypass.com or call 543-8374.

Reach Catherine E. Toth at 954-0664 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com. Read her blog, The Daily Dish, at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.