KAILUA-KONA – A county project to replace a deteriorating culvert on Alii Drive will get started a little later than previously estimated.
The Department of Public Works last week issued an addendum to an invitation for bids for the project, extending the bid opening date to Jan. 8, 2019.
The delay is necessary to provide the county time to resolve questions and requests for clarification on the plan and specifications, said Public Works spokesman Barett Otani.
The project would change out the more than 80-year-old culvert on the Waiaha Drainageway near Kona Tiki Hotel in Kailua-Kona. Work now is expected to begin in May, pushed back from February, Otani said.
The project includes demolition of pavement, culvert, walls, seawall and removal of trees; rock stream channel excavation; and the construction of a new bridge in phases, CRM wall, waterlines, sewer lines, pavement markings, signs, and adjusting valve box frames and covers, according to the original invitation for bids posted Nov. 15. The contractor will have just less than two years from the issuance of a notice to proceed to complete the work.
The county says phased construction would minimize impacts on traffic and pedestrians. The plan is to provide two lanes of traffic during peak traffic hours and at least one lane at other times, Otani said.
“Since the project involves the replacement of a bridge, work will definitely impact traffic,” Otani said.
The project is anticipated to cost about $12 million. The Federal Highways Administration will cover 80 percent. Finance Director Deanna Sako said the county’s share, about $2 million, is still on the books.
The culvert, also referred to as a bridge, was built in 1937. Though described as “structurally deficient,” “functionally obsolete” and near the end of its design life in a final Environmental Assessment for the project, Otani previously said that bridge engineers deemed it safe for use.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.