3,000 gallons spill
in 3rd break
of Kalanianaole
sewage pipe

A broken sewage pipe yesterday sent raw sewage into the ocean and closed lanes of the Kalanianaole Highway at Niu Valley for the third time in a month.

City crews closed the mauka, townbound lane of the highway yesterday after sewage started bubbling up through the road surface about 11 a.m., according to a city release. Repairs are expected to continue today and contraflow may be necessary.

The leak is believed to be from the same 16-inch pipe that broke Feb. 2 and Feb. 14, slowing traffic on Kalanianaole for several days as crews worked to repair the damage.

The pressurized pipe is in such poor condition that the city plans to install a temporary bypass line on the surface and a permanent underground replacement, said Eric Takamura, director of the Department of Environmental Services.

Corrosion cracks caused both of the spills earlier this month and sections of the 45-year-old iron pipe were replaced, city officials said.

An estimated 3,000 gallons of sewage entered a storm drain that empties into the ocean yesterday. Until the pipe is repaired, city crews will be removing sewage from the broken line and moving it with vacuum trucks to a nearby, functional line.