A soldier who slammed a military transport truck into an H-1 overpass walkway in September will be punished with an administrative action, military officials said yesterday.

The subsequent afternoon-rush-hour shutdown of the freeway left many of O'ahu's roads clogged for hours. Many Leeward motorists did not arrive home until late in the evening or early the next morning.

A report detailing the findings of the Army Article 15-6 investigation was not available yesterday. But Army spokesman Christopher Rodney said, "The Army accident investigation resulted in administrative action against the driver and a re-look at how the Army transports equipment on public roads."

He added: "We are reinforcing the state of Hawai'i transportation requirements and the training of our unit movement officers and updating the way we approve convoys in order to prevent accidents like this from happening again."

Rodney said exactly how the driver, a 35-year-old sergeant, is to be punished has not yet been determined and is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 15 process. He was hauling a hydraulic excavator from Pearl Harbor to Schofield Barracks.

The Army, in the days following the incident, apologized and promised to pay for repairs, which state transportation officials have estimated at about $500,000. Military officials refused to provide details, citing the pending investigation.

State officials have said the Army did not seek the oversize load permit that's required by state and federal law to operate the vehicle on the highway.

The truck and excavator that hit the 'Aiea pedestrian overpass were from the 82nd Engineer Company, 29th Engineer Battalion, 8th Sustainment Command (Theater), which Army officials said is headquartered out of Fort Shafter.

The military rig was delivering the excavator back to Schofield Barracks after it was used to demolish old barracks on Kwajalein Atoll. The military estimated the top of the excavator was at 18 feet. The height clearance for the overpass was 16 feet and three-quarters of an inch. The maximum allowable height for vehicles at that point is 14 feet.

A contractor hired to repair the walkway will place an 80-foot long, 60,000-pound concrete slab early tomorrow morning, requiring that all six 'ewa-bound lanes along the portion of the freeway from Halawa to Pearl City be closed from 1:30 to 5 a.m.

Scott Ishikawa, state Department of Transportation spokes-man, advised motorists that the town-bound lanes in that same area may also be shut down for brief periods during that time.

Motorists should use Kamehameha Highway or Moanalua Road to travel through the Halawa-to-Pearl City region when the freeway is closed.

Ishikawa said his agency has been pleased with the Army's actions since the incident.

Military personnel responsible for hauling oversized loads have been showing up at DOT's district office to apply for permits and receive instruction on how to proceed along specified routes to avoid mishaps, he said.

"That's a good thing," Ishikawa said. "We welcome the military to come to our district office and apply for permits. I think everybody learned from this, and we'll try to move forward on this and get some closure by rebuilding this walkway."

After tomorrow's shutdown, there may be a few further lane closures to allow contractor Hawaiian Dredging Co. to finish the surface for the walkway and install guardrails, Ishikawa said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.