A project to replenish sand on Waikiki beach has been postponed again, this time because of Hurricane Katrina.

The specialty pumps that were being made by a New Orleans manufacturer for American Marine, the local contractor for the $500,000 sand replenishment project, have not been delivered because of the confusion following the devastation of the Gulf Coast in August, according to Dolan Eversole, a coastal geologist with the Sea Grant Extension Service.

"The contractor is trying to find out if the pumps were sent already, but we are not real sure," Eversole said. "We cannot even get ahold of anybody there at the moment on what their status is. In the meantime, the contractor is trying to find an alternative source for these pumps as a backup.

"No date has been set. The best-case scenario is two to three weeks, but it could be more than that."

The project, which includes suctioning sand from the ocean, collecting it in offshore beds and pumping it onto the beach, was expected to begin a year ago. The work was rescheduled for March but put off until this month to avoid summer swells and obtain final permits.

All permits have been obtained, Eversole said.

Once started, the project is expected to take 20 to 30 days and will bring up about 10,000 cubic yards of offshore sand.

A barge will be moored about 2,000 feet offshore above a sand bank identified in a University of Hawai'i survey as having plentiful, clean sand. The barge will be equipped with a hydraulic sand dredge and connected to a submerged pipeline system to the beach.

The pumped sand will be allowed to dry and heavy equipment then will push it onto the beach.

The pumps are being made to fit an 8-inch pipe, smaller than pipes used for larger replenishment projects on the mainland.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.