SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
April,18 , 2011 www.hpu.edu/kalamalamaonline
P20 Designer: Anton S. Larsson
A damaged water pipe caused several hotel buildings to shut off their water because of the flooding in Waikiki.
Water, water everywhere and frustration in Waikiki... ANTON S. LARSSON staff writer Waikiki had a real gusher earlier this month. A water main was accidentally breached during construction and renovation taking place on Ala Moana Boulevard on April 3. Many HPU students live in the area. The street work was part of the upgrade and improvements for the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held in November. Several buildings had flooded basements and garages when the water main
was broken. There were no reports of major damage or injuries. Between noon and 8:45 p.m. many hotel buildings and other facilities were without running water. People could, however, find water nearby to fill buckets so they could flush their toilets. Dave Barker, resident manager at Harbor View Hotel, expressed frustration while he and a friend stacked water-filled garbage bags to try to prevent more water from reaching the flooded garage beneath the street level. They said they saw the mishap occur. “I was just happy they
were working on a Sunday,” Barker said. On some weekdays, the work is done at night because of traffic and retail business concerns. Maxine Shea, resident manager of Big Surf Hotel, expressed her frustration and said she hoped this would be resolved quickly. Contractor Mark Kline of Goodfellow Bros. said the damages and repair appeared to be minimal. “If it’s just the joint it’s easy to fix,” Kline said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to fix it in a couple of hours.” The repairs were made and water service restored that evening.
Dave Barker, resident manager of Harbor View Hotel, stacks water-filled trash bags to prevent more water from running down into the garbage.
Photos by Anton S. Larsson