Question: Is there a time frame when paving Mokulua Drive will begin? From the end of Lanikai all the way to the Kailua Beach boat ramp, the road has been chewed up from all the pipe work they have been doing all year long. The downpour a few weekends ago formed monstrous potholes where work had been done.

Answer: ”;Technically,”; repaving started the week of Nov. 10, the Board of Water Supply said.

But, it will be a while longer before the “;permanent”; paving is laid.

The $2.5 million project to replace a 60-year-old, 8-inch water main on Mokulua Drive has been delayed for many reasons, including a dispute between the contractor, Perfecto Engineering and Construction Services Inc., and the Board of Water Supply.

The project, which began in May 2007 and was to have been completed in January 2008, is now targeted for completion in March, 14 months late, said agency spokeswoman Su Shin.

“;The project is not on schedule, which we're not happy about,”; she said.

Who's responsible? It depends on who's talking.

The Board of Water Supply is considering “;legal remedies”; and has put the contractor “;on notice.”;

Shin said that the contractor was obligated to complete the project within a certain number of days.

“;In fairness to the contractor, some of the delays have been justified, like rain delays, different underground conditions, things like that.”;

But there also have been delays the agency doesn't think were justified, Shin said.

Once the project is completed, the intent is to hold the contractor accountable for the unjustified delays, such as pursuing “;liquidated damages”;—basically charging a set amount of money for every day the project was delayed, she said.

However, Perfecto Acosta, owner of the company, maintains that all the delays have been justified.

He said the project was delayed more than a year because the Board of Water Supply had “;misplaced”; original project documents that were needed for permits.

After that, he said, his company found “;things”; that were not in the original plans, which caused more delays, “;which they are not acknowledging.”;

Because of that, “;we lost production”; time, Acosta said. Workers also encountered obstacles not shown on the plans, as well as human remains.

Acosta said another delay was caused by the agency's redesigning of the concrete blocks for underground fittings, as well as the addition of “;more line.”;

“;The reason we are not paving right now (is because) we cannot transfer the new line from the old line without that design,”; Acosta said last week. He also is asking the Board of Water Supply for more money to pay for the increased price of asphalt, which has skyrocketed.

“;As a contractor, we would like to finish the job as fast as we can because the longer we stay on the job, the more money we spend,”; he said.

At last report, workers were replacing temporary “;cold mix asphalt”; with “;hot mix”; permanent asphalt over the trench that was dug to accommodate the new pipe. Once the trench is solidly compacted with the hot mix and city inspectors approve the work, workers will scrape off the top inch and a half, “;then repave the whole thing, nice and new,”; Shin said.