Price for dredging There is more muck in the Ala Wai than first estimated, and that means the contract to dredge the canal will cost the state more than the $7.4 million bid but still less than the $10.35 million appropriated for the job, a state official says.
Ala Wai rises
A contractor says there is more muck
than the estimated state contract amountBy Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.comThe contractor, American Marine Corp., will begin dredging until 10:30 p.m. beginning on Monday as the work progresses to an area where the muck is deepest, between the McCully Street bridge and about 1,600 feet beyond the Manoa-Palolo drainage canal.
The state Department of Health will be monitoring if there are any noise problems, said Andy Monden, the planning branch chief for the state Department of Land & Natural Resources. So far there have not been any complaints about the noise during the day, he said, noting that the noise level is about the same as that of normal Ala Wai traffic.
Permits for the night work have been granted, Monden added.
Fred McMullan, a member of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board who lives on Ala Wai, said he has monitored the situation during the day and does not think the night work will create any problems.
"It will be no more noise than the noise of the Ala Wai itself," McMullan said. "I'm predicting there will be no complaints at all."
The state contract with American Marine calls for the company to dredge about 168,000 cubic yards of muck from the Ala Wai and dump it into the ocean 3.8 miles south of the Honolulu Airport reef runway in waters 1,300 to 1,500 feet deep.
So far the dredging has filled 145 dump scows, and 38,250 cubic yards of material has been taken out to sea.
Monden said because the dredging will involve more material than the original contract, the state and American Marine will have to negotiate how much the state will pay for the dredging and dumping of the additional muck.
The contract also calls for 1,815 cubic yards of more contaminated material to be dredged from the area nearest to Kapahulu Avenue. That material will be treated, sealed and used for fill on the reef runway.
A public meeting to explain the treatment process will be scheduled, Monden said.
The project is also running slightly behind schedule but should be finished by the end of next summer, he said.
Department of Land and Natural Resources
Hawaii Department of Health
