Noisy Niu sewer-line repairs scheduled for 24-hour work
Noisy but necessary sewer line replacement work will continue around the clock through tomorrow along Kalanianaole Highway near Niu Valley.
Workers began pulling 16-inch flexible polyethylene sewer pipe yesterday through an underground tunnel extending 3,300 feet between Kawaikui Beach Park and Niu Valley Wastewater Pump Station. The work must be completed before lubricating material in the tunnel hardens, according to a city announcement.
The project is expected to take less than 72 hours and was not expected to require lane closures on Kalanianaole Highway.
The state Department of Health issued a noise waiver for the work, and businesses and residents along the project path were notified about the overnight work.
The horizontal directional drilling method used by the contractor, CH2M Hill, involved boring a tunnel and pulling the high-density pipe through it instead of the conventional method of laying pipe in an open trench. It was used to lessen impact on traffic.
The $9 million Niu Valley Force Main Replacement Project was delayed for several months. The project was started last summer but halted in August in a dispute over city use of private land at Niu Valley Shopping Center for the drilling equipment. The city and King's Cathedral and Chapels, the property owner, reached an agreement in November.
The underground line will replace a temporary sewer line that runs along the Kalanianaole median. The above-ground bypass was laid to stop sewage spills after the existing cast-iron pipe ruptured several times in 2005.