Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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New ‘Road’ into the Ala Wai

In the early-1900s, Lucius Pinkham, then President of the Territorial Board of Health and later Governor, developed the idea of constructing a drainage canal to drain the wetlands, which he considered “unsanitary.”  This called for the construction of a canal to reclaim the marshland.

The Waikīkī Reclamation District was identified as the approximate 800-acres from King and McCully Streets to Kapahulu Street, near Campbell Avenue down to Kapiʻolani Park and Kalākaua Avenue on the makai side (1921-1928.)  The dredge material not only filled in the makai Waikīkī wetlands, but it was also used to fill in the McKinley High School site.

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

By 1924, the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal and filling of the wetlands stopped the flows of the Pi‘inaio, ‘Āpuakēhau and Kuekaunahi streams running from the Makiki, Mānoa, and Pālolo valleys to and through Waikīkī.

With construction of the Ala Wai Canal, 625-acres of wetland were drained and filled and runoff was diverted away from Waikīkī beach.  The completion of the Ala Wai Canal not only gave impetus to the development of Waikīkī as Hawai‘i’s primary visitor destination, but also expanded the district’s potential for residential use.

Then, in 1956, Hawaiian Electric installed cables across the Ala Wai Canal to provide Waikīkī with additional electric power capacity. (HECO)

As part of the installation process, “A ‘road’ nearly spanning the Ala Wai has appeared almost overnight, surprising thousands of passers-by who are accustomed to seeing the canal as an unbroken ribbon of water from Kapahulu to the sea.”

“But Hawaiian Electric Co. assured the public yesterday that the ‘road’ would stay there only as long as to bury a 44,000-volt cable needed to bring more electricity to an expanding Waikiki.”

“The ‘road’ will support cranes which will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai. Then the cable will be laid across the canal, down Kaiolu St. and ino the Waikiki sub station.”

“Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric’s superintendent for the job, said the Ala Wai ‘road’ was the cheapest way of getting the digging equipment into the area.”  (Advertiser, Sep 11, 1956)

“Clam shell cranes will begin digging a ditch in the floor of the Ala Wai from a causeway today or tomorrow, according to Erling V Schoenberg, Hawaiian Electric Company underground superintendent.”

“The dirt and rock causeway was been built four-fifths of the way across the canal from the Iolani School area to Kaiolu Street. A 50-foot passage was left on the makai side for boats.”

“The cranes will dig a trench 23 feet deep and four feet wide under the Ala Wai in which a 44,0000-volt cable will be buried.  When this is accomplished, the causeway will be removed.”  (Star Bulletin, September 11, 1956)

“As electricity use increased, the original cables were replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables …. In 2002-03, when the Canal was last dredged, it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric, DLNR and the dredging contractor developed an interim solution to dredge around the cables. The current cable relocation project will be a permanent solution to not interfere with future dredging operations.” (HECO)

Then, “The State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) plans to dredge the Ala Wai Canal for flood control and increased recreational use starting in 2019, pending approval of permits. Hawaiian Electric currently has 46 kilovolt (kV) electrical cables buried under the canal that must be removed for efficient dredging.”

“Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling. Once new cables are in service, the old cables will be removed. Hawaiian Electric plans to install new 46kv cables about 40 feet below the canal using horizontal directional drilling.”

“To minimize disruption from conventional trenching in the city streets, Hawaiian Electric will use horizontal directional drilling to install the new cables.”:

“As with any major construction, however, some short-term impacts are unavoidable. Hawaiian Electric will make every effort to limit closed traffic lanes, noise and dust.”  (HECO)

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Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi

“From the lofty precipice on the south-east of Waipio, I had an enchanting view of a Hawaiian landscape of singular beauty and grandeur, embracing the varied scenery around, and the deep and charming valley below; the dwelling-place of twelve or fifteen hundred inhabitants …”

“With one hand clinging to little shrubs and strong grass, and with the other thrusting a sharpened staff into the earth to avoid sliding fatally down the steep, I attempted it. Friendly natives of the valley ascended part way to meet and assist me. Their ingenuity readily supplied a vehicle, by uniting bushes and branches of shrubs, and the ki plant for a drag.”

“Taking a seat at their order, on the top of it, I was gradually let down this wall on this basket, by six wakeful and sure-footed natives, two before, two behind, and one on each side.”

“With all their agility, one and another of them occasionally getting too much momentum, would suddenly slide forward a yard or two ahead of the others. We reached the bottom speedily and successfully.” (Bingham)

“Waipio Valley is a deep cleft six miles long reaching back into the rugged Kohala mountains.  It is the largest valley in the Hawaiian Islands.  It is almost one-half mile deep at the northern end and three-quarters of a mile deep at the [southern] end.”  (Honolulu Advertiser, June 24, 1956).

“It had five stores, four restaurants, one hotel, a post office, a rice mill, nine poi factories, four pool halls, and five churches. Also two jails.” (Honolulu Advertiser, June 24, 1956). The majority of these establishments were located in Nāpō‘opo‘o.

Nāpō‘opo‘o (‘the holes’) is located near Hi‘ilawe Falls on the Kukuihaele side of Waipi‘o valley. When Ellis visited the valley in 1823, this area was well populated. In 1870, the Chinese started rice farming in areas which were previously cultivated in taro. (DURP, 2001)

The May 1920 Hawaii Educational Review notes, Waipio School “is not on government land. The land is owned by the Bishop Estate and leased to the Hamakua Ditch Company.”

Samuel ‘Sam’ Makanoenoe Ka’aekuahiwi Sr was Principal of Waipio School 1920-1945 (possibly earlier than 1920). (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices)

Samuel Makanoenoe Ka’aekuahiwi Sr was born on June 28, 1882, in Kukuihaele, the son of Peter Pika Ka‘aekuahiwi Sr and Puhene Kahiwa. He married Amoy Akeao Akana Leong on December 31, 1903. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 10 daughters. (FamilySearch)

“When I was four years old, my mother died. So my sister was keeping me, my older sister and my other sisters. … My father, yeah, he remarried. or only stay together, or what. I don’t know if really he remarried (No, only together.)” (son, Ted Ka‘aekuahiwi; Waipio: Māno Wai)

Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi “came from, actually from Maui. And he went to Maui Boarding School and he came to Hawaii. In the first place, he’s a teacher. … He taught at Kawaihae. That’s his first place he taught. Let’s say, maybe about five years I think.”

“And then he came to Kapulena. He taught over there, I don’t know how many years, but. And then he came down to Waipio. And then he met my mother down at Waipio Valley. Married. Start teaching down Waipio Valley.”  (Ted Ka‘aekuahiwi; Waipio: Māno Wai)

“The Waipi‘o School was a two room building, and at its peak may have had about one hundred students. Everything was taught in the English language, through four grades. I remember a succession of teachers, an Englishman with a red face and a moustache, then a Portuguese, then John Kealoha, Solomon Burke (a hapa haole), and Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi.”

“The kids were mostly Hawaiians, followed numerically by Hawaiian-Chinese, Hawaiian-Haole, and Chinese. We were supposed to speak only English on the school premises, but we actually used a pidgin of Hawaiian, English, and Chinese.”

“We used Baldwin Readers, first, second and third. We read about spring, summer, autumn, and winter without the slightest comprehension of the terms. We read of Jack Frost on the pumpkins, when outside were rose apple trees and the tradewinds brought the fragrance of wild ginger flowers into the classrooms.”

“We memorized the alphabet and the multiplication tables. We studied history and learned that George Washington was born in Westmoreland, Virginia – why that stuck in my head I’ll never know. All of us felt sorry for the American Indians and Negroes. We also learned something about Hawaiian history.”

“School hours were from nine to twelve and one to two. … The Chinese kids were the better students, especially in arithmetic, whereas the Hawaiian kids were good in music and singing. The teachers would write out the music in four parts and the kids sang it beautifully.”

“Every Friday afternoon for one hour we would have a work detail, repairing stone walls, dusting erasers—a general cleanup of the school.”

“The only times school was called off was when the valley was badly flooded. … At the high school [in Hilo] I met white kids for the first time.” (Herbert Mock “Akioka” Kāne; transcribed and edited by his son “Herb” Kawainui Kāne; Coffee Times)

In 1939, Waipio Valley had “a 3-room grammar school with one teacher, one principal (Sam Kaaekuahiwi), and 31 students; a Mormon church; two stores.”

“The school sponsors social affairs, dances and hula concerts. No mail delivery in the valley. Old Protestant church in ruins, Roman Catholic church falling apart. Non-Mormon services conducted in people’s homes. 4-H Club sponsors fairs. No electricity but they do have battery-run radios. Approximately 80 voters. Population of Waipio approximately 200.” (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices)

“I went to Waipio Valley School. My teacher was Samuel Kaaekuahiwi. He was the roughest teacher that I ever come across for the many years. But he was all right. … Well, when you don’t do your lessons right, you not interested, he pound you on the wall. That’s the kind of life we went through.” (Joseph Batalona, Waipio: Māno Wai)

“Sam Kaaekuahiwi, the last school teacher of Waipi‘o, told me that Kukuihaele Village got its name in ancient times when inhabitants of Waipi‘o could see travelers carrying lights on the pali trail. Kukui refers to kukui nut torches, and haele ‘to go.’” (Herbert Mock “Akioka” Kāne; transcribed and edited by his son “Herb” Kawainui Kāne; Coffee Times)

In 1949, “The 100 residents of Waipio valley, biggest wet-land taro producing area of the territory, still have hopes of getting a road into the valley.”

“But unlike residents of other areas, they have patience, knowing construction of a road from the pali nearly 1,000 feet to the floor of the valley, is preceded by many other proposed county projects with higher priority ratings.”

“Until then, however, they would like more attention shown their trails in the valley. They made their wishes known yesterday to County Chairman James Kealoha, who made a horseback trip around the valley.”

“Mrs Louisa Kanekoa told him the county neglected trimming brush which shoots up over the trails from the rich valley soil. She urged the hiring of Waipio women who, she said, are better workers than the men and would save money for the county.”

“Sam Kaaekuahiwi, former principal of the Waipio school … said the road was not only needed for transporting poi and taro to market but also to make it easier for students to attend school.”

“More than 10 children now must get up around 5 am to make the long hike up the steep incline to the Kukuihaele school, for some trip of more than three miles, he said.”

“On rainy mornings they reach the pali soaked to the skin and make a change in clothing before going to school. A few students live in Kukuihaele during the school year to avoid making the long walk.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, Nov 5, 1949)

In 1951, Waipio had “a schoolhouse, but no teacher. … There is a phone line from the top to the bottom of the trail into Waipio. Before jeeps enter the trail they call down to see if a mule pack is coming up. Two mule trains go up each day, each with 7-9 mules.” (Waipio: Māno Wai, Appendices)  Sam Ka‘aekuahiwi Sr died December 12, 1961.

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Levee

Starting about 500 years ago, early Hawaiians used the Kawainui wetland as a fishpond and to grow taro. Dryland crops around the wetland at the time of the Great Mahele included sweet potatoes, gourds, wauke (paper mulberry for making kapa), ‘awa (kava), pia (arrowroot for starch), bananas and sugar cane. (Drigot)

Rice was cultivated from the 1850s to the 1920s and then ranching and grazing became the predominant uses. (Ramsar Wetlands Information Sheet)

In the Māhele, Queen Kalama, Kamehameha III’s wife, received land within the area in and around Kawai Nui.  The land ownership changes which occurred to Queen Kalama’s ownership of the ‘ili of Kawai Nui mirrored the land use changes in general both in the region and in the islands as a whole.

Then, this area encompassing much of the Kailua ahupua‘a, was inherited by her stepfather and uncle. He promptly sold it in 1871 to a haole, Charles Coffin Harris, an American lawyer, who had by that time consolidated claim to the ahupua‘a of Kāne‘ohe as well as that of Kailua.

One of his children, Nannie Roberta Harris, became sole heir to the Harris estate, including the Kailua ahupua‘a at that time. She owned the Kailua ahupua‘a until 1917 when she and her husband sold nearly all of their interest in both Kailua and Kāne‘ohe to

Harold KL Castle. (Drigot)

When I was a kid, we referred to this area as the “swamp” – many of the old maps referred to it as such.  Auto parts shops lined the road at its edge; the dump was nearby.

Kawainui is the largest remaining wetland in Hawai‘i, encompassing approximately 830 acres of land in Kailua, Oahu. It provides important habitat for waterbirds and migratory bird species.  (Kawai Nui Marsh Master Plan, 1994; Army Corps)

When it rained hard, there were flood issues … “Damage to private dwellings, farms and property in Kailua was caused today by flood waters backing up from the swamp land in the Coconut Grove area. Residents said water was more than three feet deep in some places and was rising.” (Star Bulletin, Mary 13, 1940)

Flooding was not the only local concern … “We want to eliminate the mosquito problem and we want to reclaim the area, if possible.” (Castle; Drigot)

As late as 1956, the Kaneohe Ranch had installed a vertical pump and began pumping with such energy that, four months later, the water table of the Marsh had dropped “almost four feet and made the once forbidding marsh a lush grazing land”. (Drigot)

A stream runs through Oneawa ‘ili to the sea, providing a natural drainage for the Kawainui marsh. The Oneawa Canal (Kawainui Canal, former approximate location of Kawainui Stream) was constructed in the 1950s to provide flood control and stability for real estate development.  (Dye)

The Oneawa Canal connects Kawainui Marsh to Kailua Bay, is 9,470 feet long, and is located at the northeast corner of Kawainui Marsh. The upper streams and surface water stored in the marsh are freshwater, while the salinity of water within Oneawa Canal is brackish and tidally influenced. (Army Corps)

“Even though the Oneawa Channel (Kawainui Canal) was constructed in 1950 to prevent the major flooding of the Kailua residential area situated on the edge of the marsh, five subsequent severe floods occured in 1951, 1956, 1958, 1961 and 1963.” (Drigot)

“In 1964, after a two year intense battle for development rights to the central portion of Kawainui Marsh, Centex-Trousdale Construction Co. surrendered its claim and the City of Honolulu emerged victorious in its seven-year battle to acquire 749 acres of the Marsh for flood control and park purposes when, with federal assistance, they purchased the Centex-Trousdale properties”. (Drigot)

Then, they built a levee … “Construction of the original Kawai Nui Marsh Flood Control Project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1950 and was completed in August 1966 by the Corps. Project features included … a 6,850-foot-long earthen levee with a maximum crest elevation of 9.5 feet; a 50-foot-long stub groin and 50-foot-long revetment at the outlet of Oneawa Channel”.  (Army Corps)

Over the years, vegetation within the marsh created a dense mat that affected the hydraulics of the marsh causing the project to be overtopped during the January 1988 storm.

“From December 31, 1987 through January 1, 1988, severe flooding of the Coconut Grove community occurred when the water level in the marsh exceeded the crest of the existing levee. Following this storm event, an emergency ditch was excavated alongside the levee to increase outflow from the marsh.” (Army Corps)

The floodwall has a maximum height of four feet and is 6,300 feet long extending from Kailua Road on the south to the Oneawa outlet channel on the north. The levee fills 1.8 acres of wetland fringe and provides a higher level of flood damage reduction to a larger part of Coconut Grove, which has more than 2,000 structures. (Army Corps)

By then, the Kawainui wetland reference had changed from “swamp” to “marsh.”  More recently, Kawainui Marsh was recognized as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2005 for its historical, biological, and cultural significance. (DLNR)

Ramsar is the name of the city in Iran where the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, was signed in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

Ramsar is not an acronym, and the convention is also known as “Ramsar”. The convention’s goals are to stop the loss of wetlands worldwide and to conserve the remaining wetlands through management and use.  (Ramsar Convention of Wetlands)

Sacred to Hawaiians, Kawainui Marsh, the largest remaining emergent wetland in Hawaii and Hawai‘i’s largest ancient freshwater fishpond, is located in what was once the center of a caldera of the Ko‘olau shield volcano.

The marsh provides primary habitat for four of Hawai‘i’s endemic and endangered waterbirds (Hawaiian Duck, koloa; Hawaiian Coot (‘alae ke‘oke‘o); Hawaiian Moorhen (‘alae ‘ula) and Hawaiian Stilt (kukuluae‘o (abbreviated as ae‘o)) and contains archaeological and cultural resources, including ancient walled taro lo‘i where fish were also cultivated. (Ramsar)

In addition, the levee has become a pathway that people within the surrounding community use for walking, running and biking.  Other recreation includes bird and wildlife watching.

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Kahului Landing

It is believed that initial Polynesian discovery and settlement of the Hawaiian Islands occurred between approximately AD 1000 and 1200. (Kirch) This effectively started the ‘Settlement’ phase.

For generations, the small, slowly growing population clustered around shore sites near streams that supplied them with water. Such sites are best for inshore fishing.

The food plants of Hawaiʻi can be divided into three groups: those known as staple foods (the principal starchy foods – kalo (taro,) ʻuala (sweet potato,) ʻulu (breadfruit,) etc;) those of less importance (to add nutrients and variety to the diet;) and those known as famine foods. (Krauss)

Kamakau states that there were no chiefs in the earliest period of settlement but that they came “several hundred years afterward … when men became numerous.” The communities shared familial relations and there was an occupational focus on collection of marine resources.

By the 14th century, inland elevations to around the 4,000 foot level were being turned into cultivated fields of the early dryland Kona Field System.

By the 15th century, residency in the dry uplands was becoming permanent, and there was an increasing separation of chiefly class from commoners. In the 16th century the population stabilized and the ahupua‘a land management system was established as a socio-economic unit. (Kepā Maly)

“The sweet potato and gourd were suitable for cultivation in the drier areas of the islands. The cult of Lono was important in those areas, particularly in Kona on Hawaii and ‘Ulupalakua on Maui . At both of these places there were temples dedicated to Lono. The sweet potato was particularly the food of the common people.”  (Handy Handy & Pukui)

In the later Hawaiian period (c. 1600-1800), leading to the eventual rise of Kamehameha I to power (c.1791 A.D.), the ko kula kai and ko kula uka (coastal and upland-slopes) of this area came to be extensively cultivated with important staple and supplemental crops suited to dryland planting techniques and the Kona environment. (Kepa Maly)

“Not the smallest piece of Ground was left uncultivated.  By their accounts it is hardly possible that this Country can be better cultivated or made to yield a greater sustenance for the inhabitants; they passed thro fields of hay, with which they cover the young Tarro Grounds, to prevent the suns drying it up.”

“In their walk through the Villages they met with real hospitality, every one was desirous of entertaining them, & used enticing arts to prevail upon them to stay some time amongst them; these Villages were never found farther than 4 or 5 miles from the sea side”. (Journals of Captain James Cook, Beaglehole)

“Small bays generally had a cluster of houses where the families of fishermen lived-as in Kona, Hawaii, in the specific localities of Kailua, Holualoa, Kahalu‘u, Keauhou, Napo‘opo‘o, Honaunau, Kealakekua, and Ho‘okena. … Wherever a ruling ali‘i had his establishment there was a large aggregation of domiciles.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Of significance to the land of Kahului, is the fact that a number of early historians record that the area between modern day Kailua Town to Keauhou, was favored by the ali‘i nui (high ranking chiefs) of the island of Hawai‘i as a residence. (Maly)

Kahului is a ili within the ahupua‘a of Holualoa. (Ili, ahupua‘a and moku are Hawaiian terms that refer to land divisions. A moku is a large section of an island, while an ahupua‘a is a portion of a moku that is typically somewhat pie-shaped, and runs from the mountains to the ocean, and an ili is a portion of an ahupua‘a.) (NPS, Henderson House) (Others suggest Kahului is an ahupua‘a.)

Kahului is a part of this larger district that was a significant political seat and population center. (Maly) On the makai side, at Kahului Bay, was a canoe landing.

“Look at all the ulu niu [coconut grove]. This is about 1890, it’s Kahului Bay, there are canoes at the landing, the sand was up. Look where all the people are standing. And there are thatched house here. This is where the Kona Tiki Hotel is now.” (Kepā Maly)

“You know, the shore was very different here, even when I was young. The beach came up with sand and rocks into the yard, and there used to be an old canoe and boat landing in front here. You know Kahului was an important landing, before days.”

“Over there [pointing to a thatched house in the picture on the north side of the landing] that’s where the Kona Tiki Hotel is now. You see, they’ve filled all this in to make the road and hotel. The landing is all changed now.”

“But look, there are so many people, all Hawaiians down on the shore. Now almost all the families are gone. Our house would be just off the picture here. Now, all these walls and house sites are all gone too.” (Luciana Ka‘ailehua Makuakâne-Tripp, Interview with Kepa Maly)

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DLNR’s Roles at the Ala Wai

During the 1920s, the Waikīkī landscape would be transformed when the construction of the Ala Wai Drainage Canal, begun in 1921 and completed in 1928, resulted in the draining and filling in of the remaining ponds and irrigated fields of Waikīkī.

“Over the decades, all sorts of pollution – pesticides, heavy metals, sediments and even raw sewage –  has flowed into the canal. As Honolulu’s upstream population mushroomed, contamination in the canal has steadily increased …”

“… and over the years levels of pollution have tested well above limits considered safe. One local man died from bacterial infections he picked up after falling in the water.” (Civil Beat)

One role DLNR plays is dealing with the trash that floats down the respective drainage ditches up mauka that make their way into the Ala Wai.

Ala Wai small boat harbor is particularly prone to collecting trash that heavy rains, such as has been experienced this summer, wash down from watershed areas of Manoa, Makiki and Palolo streams.

Trash then flows down the Ala Wai canal, where a portion is captured in a debris trap, or amid the harbor front row piers and boats that is visible to the public.

“The trap utilizes a floating boom on the makai side of the bridge span next to Ala Wai Marine boatyard that captures tons of refuse after every rainstorm. But, like any trap, once it’s filled it must be emptied before it can function again.” (Pendleton)

DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) is responsible for removing this mess from the traps. (DLNR) The trap is normally cleaned three to four times a year. The expense is paid through the Boating Special Fund (paid by boaters), not from General Funds from tax revenues.

That responsibility became more profound when, in 2006, “the city dumped 48 million gallons of untreated sewage into the canal – which flowed out into the ocean and polluted Waikiki beaches – in order to keep the waste from backing up into hotels, homes and businesses.”  (Civil Beat)

“This spill is such a large magnitude. We have never seen this before,” said state Health Department spokesman Kurt Tsue. “It’s pretty bad.”

“More than 100 warning signs to stay out of the water were posted along a 1 ½-mile stretch covering 18 beaches from Waikiki to downtown Honolulu.” (LA Times)

“Oliver Johnson, a 34-year-old mortgage broker, died April 6 from a bacterial infection after falling or being pushed into the sewage-contaminated Ala Wai Harbor on March 31.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

DLNR had to clean up the debris trap and we viewed it as a biological hazardous waste removal/treatment and “Workers in protective gear will begin cleaning the sewage-polluted Ala Wai Boat Harbor today, under a $50,000 state contract.” (Star Bulletin, April 15, 2006)

Some may recall the ‘black noodle’ in and around the Ala Wai.  “The 5,135-foot sewage pipe that juts out of the water near community gardens on the mauka bank of the canal, has been a constant reminder of that environmental disaster.” (Civil Beat)

It took the City seven years to remove the large black sewage pipe that snaked along the bottom of the Ala Wai Canal and out toward the mouth of the boat harbor, adjacent to Waikiki’s famous beaches.

In addition to the surface collection of debris, DLNR is also responsible for periodic dredging of the Ala Wai Canal.  Just as debris comes downstream, accumulated silt and sediments come down and collect in the Ala Wai.

The Ala Wai Canal serves as an essential drainageway and sediment basin for the Ala Wai watershed. Over time, the build-up of sediments into the Ala Wai Canal has affected the canal’s sediment- and water-holding capacity, reducing the canal’s ability to temporarily contain and then release storm water when there are heavy storm events. (Army Corps)

At times, “some areas are only 4 to 6 feet deep at high tide and canoes ply inches-deep water at low tide” (Honolulu); dredging is targeted to get water levels closer to “12-6 feet below the mean lower low water mark”. (DLNR)

As reported in 2003, “The dredging is a state-financed, $7.4 million effort to restore a measure of health and self-respect to the Ala Wai, which began filling with sediment almost as soon as the Army Corps of Engineers dug it in 1927 to control floods and mosquitoes and to provide landfill for the swampland that was then Waikiki.”

“The canal, which collects runoff from streams and storm drains on the densely populated mountain slopes above Waikiki, has been dredged periodically, most recently in 1979.” (NY Times, March 3, 2003)

A challenge was that Hawaiian Electric has underground electrical cable crossing under the Ala Wai (first installed in 1956 replaced in 1990 with higher capacity cables).  “DLNR encountered Hawaiian Electric’s cables during routine maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal” and “it was determined the cables were at risk of damage from dredging”.

“As a temporary solution, sections of the active cables on the makai side of the canal were covered with twelve 20-foot by 8-foot pre-cast concrete panels. The panels provided protection and allowed the dredging operations to continue in areas upstream of the cables.” (Belt Collins)

Later, “Hawaiian Electric relocated underground sub-transmission line cables that connect to HECO’s Waikiki Substation located on Kai‘olu Street.” This also shifted the alignment of the cable to the west of the existing route. New technology allowed for horizontal directional drilling to cross under the Ala Wai Canal.

In part, HECO’s action supported the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ efforts to provide continuous maintenance dredging of the Ala Wai Canal. The replacement cables also help maintain the reliability of the electrical distribution system. (Belt Collins)

DLNR Chief Engineer Carty Chang said, “The long-term benefits of this project include maintaining the ability of the canal to efficiently convey storm water flows to the ocean to reduce the risk of flooding, and to improve the aesthetics and safe use of the canal for recreational users.”

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