DLNR is conducting a three month project to restore sand to approximately 1,730 feet of shoreline from the west end of the Kuhio Beach swim basin, near the Duke Kahanamoku statue, to the existing Royal Hawaiian groin between the Royal Hawaiian and Sheraton Waikiki hotels. Sand pumping is scheduled to begin as early as January 23, 2012. The project will improve Waikiki Beach by restoring a valuable and heavily utilized recreational beach, and will have significant beneficial impacts to recreational activities consistent with protecting the local environment. The project's objective is to return the beach to its 1985 condition utilizing a state-of-the-art sand blowing technology to transport sand along the beach. Financial support for the project will come from the DLNR's Beach Fund, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts, LP.
"We are very excited about this project and the opportunity to reclaim beach sand that has been lost to erosion. This recycling program offers a more efficient method for maintaining a recreational beach while mitigating some of the environmental impacts of imported sand to the Waikiki ecosystem over the past sixty-plus years," said William J. Aila, Jr., DLNR Chairperson. "Waikiki is an icon of Hawai'i that has cultural, recreational, and economic significance to both our residents and visitors. It is our responsibility to maintain this world-famous beach and replenish those areas that disappearing due to coastal erosion."
The sand replenishment project will involve the recovery of up to 24,000 cubic yards of sand from designated areas located 1,500 to 3,000 feet offshore of the project area in a water depth of about 10 to 20 feet; pumping sand to an onshore dewatering site within the Diamond Head swim basin; the transport of sand along the shore in the project area with a low pressure pneumatic sand blower, using a small-diameter plastic pipe that is buried underground; placement of sand according to design beach profiles to ensure the right amount of sand is located in the correct sections of beach; removal of two deteriorated groin structures; offshore environmental and water quality monitoring, as well as beach and nearshore sediment monitoring.
The project requires a 60-day operating window of calm seas, and is therefore scheduled during the winter, which typically has the mildest wind and wave conditions in Waikiki. Construction activities will commence during daylight hours, from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, seven days a week until the project is completed. Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc., the lead contractor, will collect sand using a hydraulic suction dredge barge. The sand will be transported to the dewatering and staging areas in the eastern Kuhio Beach Park swim basin. The sand will then be loaded into an air conveyance machine used to blow the sand down the beach, via an underground pipeline, to the 200-foot wide active beach maintenance area.
In order to ensure public safety, beach closures will be necessary in certain areas: The east Kuhio Beach Park swim basin and beaches will be closed for the duration of the project (January 9 - March 31, 2012). The beach adjacent to the west Kuhio Beach Park swim basin will be closed for 2-3 days while the deteriorated groins are being removed (January 10 - 12, 2012). In addition, the area around the active sand placement operation will be closed on a daily basis. This closure will be approximately 200 feet wide and will migrate from west to east, from the Royal Hawaiian groin to the west Kuhio Beach Park swim basin (January 23 - March 20, 2012). With the exception of the 200-foot wide active beach maintenance area, the rest of Waikiki beach will remain open.
DLNR has worked with the state Department of Health, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Zone Management Program, NOAA-National Marine Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure the project meets all state and federal requirements for environmental quality control. DLNR has also held numerous meetings with city and state agencies, community organizations, businesses, and visitor industry representatives throughout the fall and early winter to review the plans, accept comments, and answer questions. For information about the project go to the DLNR Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands web site at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/occl/. In addition, daily project updates will be available through the Hawaii Beach Safety Website, courtesy of the City and County of Honolulu Lifeguards at www.hawaiibeachsafety.org.
To learn more about beach erosion in Hawai'i, read Disappearing Sands [GREEN Magazine, Sept/Oct 2011, Volume 3 Number 5]. Read article