WHAT'S GOING ON?

Two staging areas at each end of the 3,278-foot-long project have been set up along Kalaniana'ole Highway. One end is at Kawaiku'i Beach Park and the other is by Niu Valley Shopping Center. Equipment is being brought in for the directional drilling the city plans to do from either end, said Craig Nishimura, city Department of Design and Construction deputy director. The directional drilling method involves an underground drill that makes a horizontal hole 80 feet below the surface at the deepest part of the project. A pipe is then inserted into the hole and connected to the sewer system. The other method would be to trench the road, place a length of pipe and then repave the roadway. The old pipe will be abandoned after the new pipe is hooked up to the force main, or sewer line.

EXPECTED TIMELINE

Horizontal drilling is under way and will continue through the end of November when the new pipe will be installed, Nishimura said. The same method was used in 2000, to install two new force main lines, each about 3,300 feet long, under Honolulu Harbor from Hart Street into the Matson Container Yard. Once the new pipe is installed under Kalaniana'ole Highway, then tests will be done to ensure there are no leaks. Crews will begin removing the above-ground sewer pipes, stamped with "live sewage," in February or March.

WATCH FOR TRAFFIC DELAYS

Traffic should be impeded only marginally during the directional drilling, Nishimura said. When the that begins, it will require single-lane closures. The worst will occur in February and March, when the temporary above-ground sewer line is removed, he said. Traffic advisories will be posted.

WHY THIS IS HAPPENING

The city is paying $9 million to install the sewer pipes underground. The pipes needed replacing after they burst three times in February 2005. The breaks dumped raw sewage onto the highway and into the ocean. After the city determined it couldn't repair the line anymore, it erected an above-ground emergency bypass line stamped with the words "live sewage." The line collects untreated sewage ranging from Kuli'ou'ou to the east and from Kalani High School to the west. It then pumps the sewage through larger pipes that carry it to the sewage treatment plant at Sand Island.

NEIGHBORLY BENEFITS

Once the equipment is removed, the contractor has agreed to rehabilitate the park by sprucing up the bathroom facilities at Kawaiku'i and making some parking lot improvements. Park improvements should be done by May.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Nana Park of 'Aina Haina goes to Kawaiku'i Beach Park with her dogs every day. When the dust screens first appeared she wondered about them, but figured it was for a project nearby.

"I don't care about the space they're taking up as long as they give the space back to the park," Park said. "If they make the park nicer after they leave, that would be a good thing."

Surfer Jordon Cooper of Diamond Head said as long as a path is clear to the surf and to the showers, the construction crews can have the rest of the park.

"It's important to fix the sewers," Cooper said. "I don't know where else out here they'd put their equipment. I don't mind the limited parking, either; keeps the number of park users down."

Walter Banuls, also a surfer, said he doesn't come often to the park, but when he saw the equipment and the large pipes in the storage area, he figured it was for the sewers.

"They have to do something," Banuls said. "I'd rather be able to flush the toilet, so losing a bit of park area isn't a problem."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.