6-month Niu Valley sewer work to delay traffic

Replacing a sewer force main along Kalanianaole Highway in Niu Valley will cause some traffic disruption beginning June 26 until the project is finished in December, a city engineer said yesterday.

City contractor CH2M Hill is designing and constructing the project, which will install 3,300 feet of new high-density, flexible polyethylene pipe between Kawaikui Beach Park and the Niuiki Circle, said Myron Fujimoto, a city waste-water engineer.

The new 16-inch-diameter force main will be installed 40 feet below ground with "horizontal directional drilling" that will not require the highway to be dug up, Fujimoto said. However, the work will periodically take up one lane of traffic, he said.

The new force main will replace an aging line that broke several times in February 2005 and led the city to install a temporary, above-ground bypass line to stop sewage spills.

When the permanent line is installed, the old line will be inspected to see if it can be used as a backup line, Fujimoto said. The lines serves people who live from Kuliouou through Kalani High School.

The total project estimate is $9 million, said Fujimoto, who will be working on the project for the city.

Niu Valley residents can expect some noise in the vicinity of the project, according to a fact sheet created by CH2M Hill and distributed Thursday at a Kuliouou-Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board meeting.

Questions about the project can be directed 24 hours a day to Greg Smith at CH2M Hill at 216-8874; messages will be returned. The company plans to create a Web site with project updates.