CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A large portion of Waikiki's Kuhio Beach was closed and loaded with sand- replenishing equipment yesterday.
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Sand replenishment project gets late start
10,000 cubic yards will be pumped ashore to Waikiki beach
A state contractor started preliminary work yesterday on the oft-delayed Kuhio Beach sand replenishment project in Waikiki, and state officials expect to begin pumping sand by tomorrow, weather permitting.
Contractor American Marine Corp. anchored its hydraulic dredge barge about 2,000 feet offshore, where it will pump sand from the ocean floor. Also yesterday, state Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel placed channel marker buoys that will guide placement of an 8-inch-diameter pipeline from the barge to the shore.
The project was to have started four weeks ago, but rough seas caused by late-season southerly swells forced the latest delay, the state said.
National Weather Service Lead Forecaster Sam Houston said the season for large south swells, which coincides roughly with the summer months, lasted longer this year, possibly due to the global effects of El Nino.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
A barge loaded with equipment to replenish sand on Kuhio Beach waited offshore yesterday to begin work. Meanwhile, surfers looked for that perfect wave.
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"Typically, you don't see south swells all the way into October," he said.
Houston said a south swell bringing wave faces of 1 to 3 feet to Waikiki started coming in yesterday and are expected to continue until Thursday. The small waves have not prevented the project from proceeding.
The project calls for pumping of up to 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand onto Kuhio Beach, where it will be placed in three areas identified for replenishment, between the Kapahulu Groin and the Duke Kahanamoku statue.
The sand will first reach shore in a staging area, where it will be spread with heavy equipment for drying. The staging area, on the beach across Kalakaua Boulevard from St. Augustine Church, will remain closed to the public for the 20 to 30 days that the project is expected to last.
Once dry, backhoes and dump trucks will transport the sand to the designated replenishment areas.
"This is not introducing new sand, but bringing back the sand that was once there," said Peter Young, DLNR director.
George Downing, spokesman for Save Our Surf, said the state agreed to keep the sand far enough away from the water so it does not get washed into the swim basins or into surf areas.
"We will be watching that they keep the sand above a certain area," he said.
The $500,000 project was originally slated to start in fall 2004 but was postponed to January 2005 for the state to perform a test of the water current and to monitor the reef environment.
Modifications to the project and delays in getting state and federal permits pushed the project to last April. But a 48-million-gallon sewage spill into the Ala Wai Canal raised concerns about bacteria level in the offshore sand. By the time those concerns were addressed, the window of calm seas was too small, and the project was postponed to last month. Rough seas from a south swell and southerly winds pushed the start to this week.