Ala Wai dredging
to be detailed

Project contractors will discuss
the work at a public meeting

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

The long-awaited dredging of the Ala Wai Canal is expected to start Aug. 6 and the contractor for the project will describe the 10-month-long process at a public meeting next Wednesday.

State Sen. Les Ihara (D, Waikiki-Kapahulu), said he believes concerns for area residents are the potential noise and smell of the project.

But no one's denying the work needs to be done. The last time the 1925-built canal was dredged was in 1978.

"Everyone is waiting for this hearing, for all of the details," Ihara said.

American Marine Corp., which won the $7.4 million contract for the job from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, expects to start setting up its equipment this month, said Andrew Monden, DLNR chief engineer.

The project has been delayed several times in the past two years because of equipment scheduling problems.

According to the contractor's schedule, the area between the bridges at Ala Moana Boulevard and McCully Street would be dredged in August. Then it would take seven months of work (September-March) to clear the canal from McCully to Walina streets, near the Manoa-Palolo drainage channel.

If all goes well, the drainage channel would be dredged in April and the job completed in May by going to the end of the canal at the Waikiki-Kapahulu Library. Most of the material to be dredged has been deemed safe for disposal in the ocean.

Equipment will include a dredging barge outfitted with mooring spuds and a Caterpillar 345B excavator, with a two-part shovel that closes like a clam-shell, three 78-foot-by-24-foot dump scow barges to carry the sludge away, a canal push-boat to move the loaded scows between the dredge site and a temporary pier at Magic Island, and an ocean-going tugboat to move the scows to the Environmental Protection Agency-designated offshore disposal site.American Marine is asking permission to dredge 24-hours a day in areas where the estimated noise of the work would not exceed existing background noise. Public input at next week's meeting should determine whether that state Department of Health permit is granted, Monden said.

Monden said the contractor intends to work 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekdays, unless it falls behind schedule, when it would use the variance to work around the clock.

State Rep. Mindy Jaffe (R, Diamond Head-Kaimuki-Kapahulu), said she is optimistic that any noise or smell "will only be a little inconvenience," and "won't be so bad."

Informational meeting A public informational meeting about the Ala Wai Canal dredging project will be held at 7 p.m. July 10 at the Hawaii Convention Center's Theater Room 320. Free validated parking. For more information, call 586-6250, or visit www.newhawaii.org /awcdredging.htm.