WASHINGTON — Hawai'i has received a $1.1 million federal grant to repair the earthquake-damaged Pi'ilani Highway on Maui, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye announced yesterday.

The grant comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The earthquakes on Oct. 15, 2006, undermined the retaining walls along three sections of the coastal highway and forced its closure. That has disrupted the lives of East Maui residents for almost two years.

The project includes constructing buttresses, rock scaling and rock bolting to stabilize sections of the cliff face loosened by the earthquakes.

Inouye said the federal government is providing 75 percent of the money needed for the repair project.

"Washington has stepped up to the plate and now the state has the responsibility to ensure that the funds will go to contractors who can construct the required buttresses quickly and professionally," said Inouye, a Hawai'i Democrat.

Janod Contractors is doing the work on the project.