Removal of trees to stabilize Round Top
The work, part of efforts to prevent landslides, will take about a week
The state will begin removal of 27 trees on a Round Top Drive hillside tomorrow to stabilize the site of multiple landslides that have kept the road closed since March.
Last month, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources removed about 1,100 cubic yards of loose volcanic cinders and other materials from the landslide area, spokeswoman Deborah Ward said.
Removing trees -- most of which are damaged or dead -- is expected to take about a week, Ward said.
The next step will be cutting back the eroded slope where the landslides originated and installing concrete barriers, Ward said. When that work is completed at the end of this month, it will be the city's responsibility to repair the road, she said.
DLNR Director Peter Young said yesterday that he will explain the project in detail Friday.
City road work is expected to take about two months -- September and October -- the DLNR said last month in a release.
Eugene Lee, city Department of Design and Construction acting director,* said in April that it would probably cost the city $1 million to restabilize the ground, repair the roadway and replace guardrails in the short term but that a long-term solution might cost $10 million.
Updated details on the city's plans were not available last night.
When the city has completed the roadway repair, it will decide if the road can be reopened to traffic while the state comes back to do a second phase of hill stabilization, Ward said. She was not sure yesterday how long that phase would take.
Trees removed from the hillside will be mulched and used, and the cinders removed so far are being used at Diamond Head State Monument, Ward said.
On March 24, heavy rain triggered a huge mudslide in the now-closed area of Round Top Drive -- the fourth in as many days. A week later, on March 31, mud and black sand covered the road more than 3 feet deep.