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Waimea contract workers
find burial caves in cliff

Star-Bulletin staff

The state Historic Preservation Office was called to the Waimea Bay rock-slide site after the contractor's exploratory team found several small burial caves in the steep cliff face.

The caves will not be disrupted until the Department of Land and Natural Resources prepares a plan to remove any remains found there, according to an announcement yesterday by the state Department of Transportation.

Historic preservation representatives will document what is found at the site and report to the Oahu Burial Council.

Contractor Kiewit Pacific yesterday began exploring the cliff face over Kamehameha Highway that was closed after a March 6 rock fall. The team began removing small, loose rocks from the cliff, a project expected to continue during the next two weeks.

The state Department of Education announced yesterday that it will suspend its special school bus service since students are now able to travel by private vehicle or city bus shuttle across the Menehune Connector road built across Waimea beach to link the Pupukea and Haleiwa sides of Kamehameha Highway.