KALAHEO — A few years ago, the main pipe that supplied water to the Brydeswood Terrace Subdivision in Kalaheo broke. Crews from the Department of Water had to dig a 14-foot-deep trench through the center of a berm to fix
KALAHEO — A few years ago, the main pipe that supplied water to the Brydeswood Terrace Subdivision in Kalaheo broke. Crews from the Department of Water had to dig a 14-foot-deep trench through the center of a berm to fix it.
The repair wasn’t “your typical emergency situation — it’s much more complicated,” said Dustin Moises, the county’s construction project management officer, who was part of the crew that fixed the pipe.
While the water main was patched up and faucets in the subdivision flowed once again, that pipe remained buried under the berm on private property, in the same spot it was originally placed in 1979.
“It’s a big thing for our guys because some of them lose sleep at night thinking, ‘What happens if that thing blows out?’” Moises said.
That’s why Moises and his crew are going to move the water main. The 10-month project starts in mid-January. A public meeting is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center to discuss the details.
“It’s mostly the people in the subdivision that are going to be affected,” Moises said. “Everybody in Kalaheo is welcome to come, though, and understand our plan and be aware of what we’re going to be doing for the next couple of months in the neighborhood.”
Hands-on construction work will take between three and four months. Crews will be bringing the new water main down the bypass road near Kauai Coffee, then along the paved roadway.
Mostly, traffic shouldn’t be impeded by the construction, Moises said.
“Right now, it’s not crossing the road, and when we come through, we’ll stay along the subdivision side of the road,” Moises said, so the traffic flow shouldn’t be shut down.
There will be a few “intermittent traffic issues” within the subdivision when they connect the new water main, Moises said.
“You never know what you’re going to get. If our existing pipeline isn’t where it says it is on the plan, that might shift stuff into the travel lane,” Moises said, “but I think with the shoulder we should be OK.”
Once they’re done with the work, crews will repave over the trench and “people won’t even notice at the end of the day.”
Residents of Brydeswood will only be without water for a maximum of two days while crews connect the new water main, but Moises said he’s trying to pare that down to one.
“Looking at the design for this one, I think we’re going to do all of it in one day to minimize impact,” Moises said. “There’s no guarantee, but we’re basically trying to minimize the impact for the shutdown.”
Ideally, water would be turned off to the subdivision one day, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If workers have to add a second day for connecting the water main, water would be shut off for the same period of time. The days won’t be back to back.
“It would never go overnight,” Moises said. “Something like on a Tuesday and then on a Thursday; we’re not going to impact them consecutively for two days.”
