Kamehameha Highway reopened near Waimea Bay after early morning rockfall

Posted on Feb 5, 2023 in Highways News, Main, News

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

HONOLULU – The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) has reopened Kamehameha Highway near Waimea Bay after a day of rockfall mitigation along a stretch of the highway.

26 feet of temporary concrete barriers have been brought in for reinforcement, creating an eight-foot wall along the side of the highway.

Continued scaling work will need to be done on Monday, Feb. 6. That work will involve intermittent closures and 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.

Rock scaling at the site of the rockfall that prompted the closure of the highway at 7:23 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, was completed shortly before 6 p.m.

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