Highways

06/15/12

KAUNAKAKAI – A groundbreaking ceremony was held this morning by the state Department for Transportation (DOT) for the Kawela Stream Bridge Replacement Project on Molokai’s Kamehameha V Highway.  The $6 million project will replace the existing bridge, originally constructed in 1940, with a new bridge that meets modern seismic and hydraulic standards.

The new bridge will be 21-feet longer and 19-feet wider than the current bridge and will provide 10-foot shoulders on either side for pedestrians and bicyclists.  It will also be
2-feet higher, providing additional capacity for drainage flow for the Kawela Stream beneath.

“The Kawela Stream has seen several incidents of flooding during heavy rains in the past two decades that have cut off eastside residents from the rest of the island,” said Jadine Urasaki, Deputy Director for Capital Improvements Projects.  “This bridge replacement will help to address that problem.”

The streambed beneath the new bridge will be lined with concrete to protect the banks from erosion and to facilitate maintenance.  The new bridge structure will be 65-feet-long, 47-feet-wide and seven feet high.

The first phase of construction will create a temporary detour route on the ocean-side of the existing bridge and reroute traffic around the work zone.  The existing bridge will then be removed and the replacement bridge constructed.  Traffic will then be returned to the original road alignment and the temporary detour route will be removed.  Construction is anticipated to be complete in December 2013.

The Kawela Stream Bridge, originally constructed in 1940, will be replaced with a bridge that meets modern seismic and hydraulic standards.