A memory of Hurricane Iniki has been erased with the completion of a facelift of Brennecke Beach.
The pocket beach near Po’ipu Beach was severely eroded by Iniki in 1992. The storm exposed an old seawall, causing undesirable wave reflections, hampering the natural recovery of the beach from hurricane deamage and making conditions hazardous for beachgoers. In addition, Hoone Road, which borders the beach, was threatened by beach erosion.
Kaua’i County hired Oceanit, a research and engineering firm, to devise a shore protection and restoration plan. The result included:
l The removal of an old cement seawall, creating more beach area for recreation and improving the wave patterns so that sand now moves to the beach instead of being swept away.
l Several truckloads of clean sand brought to the site to speed up the natural recovery.
l The construction of a 250-foot-long revetment next to Hoone Road. Part of the revetment was buried beneath the sand so that only a new rock wall beside the road is visible.
The beach isn’t out of the woods yet. Dayan Vidhanga, senior projects engineer for Oceanit, said one or two large storms could quickly rob it of its new sand. But the improvements will allow a faster recovery, hopefully before nature has its way again, he said.
Oceanit was paid $80,000 for its assistance in the project. The county’s Department of Public Works handled the labor.
Vidhanga, who designed the Brennecke Beach recovery, said it was unique among other public projects in which Oceanit has been involved. This one “had 99 percent support of the community. Most public projects don’t have that much of the community behind them,” he said, adding Brennecke is an example of community projects that can be accomplished through government, public and business cooperation.
Most of Oceanit’s work is with private contractors. The firm has offices throughout Hawai’i and in California. A spokeswoman said the company encourages its scientists and engineers “to perform cutting-edge research and development” in Hawai’i.
