Saving the landmark Hanalei Bridge is an effort that is just about complete following almost 30 years of town meetings, petitions to the state Department of Transportation and work with historic preservation groups. A brand new black steel Pratt truss
Saving the landmark Hanalei Bridge is an effort that is just about complete following almost 30 years of town meetings, petitions to the state Department of Transportation and work with historic preservation groups.
A brand new black steel Pratt truss is now in place where the rusting hulk of a steel bridge once stood. The structural steel bridge section is an almost identical replica of the truss bridge that began carrying traffic over the Hanalei River in 1912.
Work now finishing up on the the bridge includes repairing the newer Warren truss, a 1960s-era bridge section that carries much of the weight crossing the bridge, plus the removal of lead-based paint and other site work.
The contactor who erected the new truss section is Abhe & Svoboda of Kapolei in Leeward O’ahu. The construction cost is approximately $1.9 million, and the job is expected to be completed by July.
Highlighting the erection of the new steel Pratt truss that has returned the bridge to life is a special award given to long-time Hanalei Road Committee members Barbara Robeson and Carol Wilcox for their work in preserving the look of the historic bridge.
The Hanalei Roads Committee first held a meeting in 1974 with a vision to save the historic Hanalei Bridge, Robeson said.
The group continued their work over the past 30 some years with the help of a number of North Shore residents.
Now the group’s work is being highlighted at the annual Historic Hawai’i Foundation conference being held on Kaua’i this week.
Robeson and Wilcox received the Historic Hawai’i Preservation Honor Award for 2002-2003 on May 7 at the home of University of Hawai’i President Evan Dobelle.
“The committee felt that your work has been a wonderful example of the positive impact historic preservation can have in our communities and on our islands,” says a statement from the Historic Hawai’i Foundation that describes the award.
The new bridge is just one segment of the Hanalei Road Committee’s work in preserving about 10 miles of State Highway 560, the stretch of Kuhio Highway that runs from the Princeville Shopping Center to Ke’e Beach in Ha’ena.
The committee received word in early April that the Hawaii Historic Place Review Board has placed Route 560 on the Hawaii Register of Historic Places. The board recommended that the state Historic Preservation Office also nominate the historic, scenic road for placement on the National Register of Historic Places; the Hanalei Bridge is already on the National Register.
In announcing the Hawaii Register designation, Robeson, who is co-chair of the Hanalei Roads Committee, said, “the vision that the unique qualities of the road corridor can be maintained – the narrow width and alignment that predates the highway’s construction, the roadway elements such as the rock guardwalls and wood guardrails, and the thirteen historic bridges and culverts, most of which are one-lane.”
Robeson said the narrow bridges found between Hanalei and Ke’e Beach represent two popular types of construction in early 20th century Hawai’i: steel trusses and reinforced concrete slabs.
“The earliest bridges at Wainiha, Waikoko, Waipa and Lumaha’i were made of timber, in about 1904,” she said. “In 1912, under the leadership of County Engineer J.H. Moragne and later R.L. Garlinghouse, Kaua’i’s bridge-building program became more extensive with the construction of the Hanalei steel-truss bridge, and with new concrete bridges at Waipa, Wai’oli and Waikoko.”
It is hoped that the look and feel of the historic highway will be kept in concert with state Highways Division work in keeping the roadway safe for drivers.
Watch for a special description of historic Highway 560 in the Sunday edition of The Garden Island.
