Department of Transportation

Intermittent closures needed to bring down loose material on Monday, Feb. 6.

HONOLULU – The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) reports that the drone assessment of Kamehameha Highway near Waimea Bay has been completed and the route will be reopened Sunday evening. HDOT will provide a final update for today once the road is confirmed to be open.

Rock scaling at the site of the rockfall that prompted the closure of the highway at 7:23 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, has been completed. The rock scaling contractor is now working their way towards Waimea Bay Beach Park.

The fallen rocks at the site are being removed and barriers will be placed to provide temporary protection as HDOT works to extend the rockfall fencing towards the bay. An update on the schedule for the mitigation will be provided as soon as it is confirmed.

Intermittent closures on Monday, Feb. 6, will be needed to complete the rock scaling. The traffic holds will be scheduled outside of peak travel times (e.g., 5-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.) and should not be longer than 30 min. at a time.

A clip of the drone footage showing the rockface where the large boulder came from and other rock shelves can be found at https://youtu.be/9GH0zZUcUoQ

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