By COLIN M. STEWART By COLIN M. STEWART ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald Staff Writer A co-owner of the Hamakua Coast zip line course where a construction worker was killed in September says he is in no rush to reopen for business. KapohoKine
By COLIN M. STEWART
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
A co-owner of the Hamakua Coast zip line course where a construction worker was killed in September says he is in no rush to reopen for business.
KapohoKine Adventures’ eight-line Honolii Mountain Outpost course has been closed since the Sept. 21 collapse of a 30-foot platform that claimed the life of 36-year-old worker Ted Callaway. And it will remain that way until he is assured that the zip lines are as safe as they can possibly be, said Tony DeLellis in a Tuesday meeting at the Tribune-Herald.
“I was there on the property that day,” DeLellis said of the accident. “It was a traumatic thing. … I can’t even imagine what it’s been like for Teddy’s family, his mother Ilene and his seven kids. As an operator, you always want to try to prevent any possibility for an accident. But what I saw that day threw everything out the window.”
“That’s why I hired these guys,” he said, pointing to engineer Paul R. Weber and his son, David Weber, president of Pacific Ground Systems. “I needed to correct the situation to make sure that it (the accident) would never happen again.”
For the last two weeks, workers with Pacific Ground Systems have been replacing a total of 46 “tie-down anchors” on the course’s zip line platforms. The devices are supposed to resist the pulling forces created by the taut zip line cables and help to keep the structures from toppling.
A police investigation into the fatal accident found that the anchors installed by Experiential Resources Inc. (ERi) failed as Callaway traversed the line, ripping out of the ground and allowing the tower to collapse. Callway, who was not wearing a helmet, plunged into the rocky stream bed more than 100 feet below.
The repair work is extensive and expensive, said project engineer Paul Weber. The anchors are being set into the lava bedrock, which can be up to 30 feet below a layer of “Pahala ash,” a very loose soil. Weber has said he believes the original plans for the zip lines did not take the geology of the Hamakua Coast into consideration, and that is likely why the anchors failed. He is also concerned that other zip line courses on the Big Isle may suffer from the same weakness.
Pacific Ground Systems is also reinforcing the timber poles that hold the platforms aloft, said David Weber. In addition to the faulty anchoring, the police investigation found that the poles of the platform that fell had only been buried 5 feet in the soil, although the plans called for them to be 7.5 feet deep.
“We want to make sure that every measure is being taken for public safety up there,” he said. “We’ve been working with Tony, and he’s really leaving no stone unturned. … I believe he made the right choice in our expertise.”
DeLellis said he was uncomfortable discussing the work done by Experiential Resources, and did not say whether he intended to pursue a lawsuit over the accident. He did, however, say that his company had severed all ties with ERi since the accident.
“You know, you look to a professional organization and you expect them to build it (the course) according to their specifications. You assume that because these are world standards for building these types of facilities, you assume that it will be OK,” he said.
Attempts by the Hawaii Legislature to pursue licensing of the zip line industry appear to have failed this session, DeLellis added, saying that legislators have squandered an opportunity to require stricter standards of zip line operators.
“Legislation is necessary,” he said. “Of course, as a small business owner, it doesn’t make me super happy. At this point, I don’t trust the process. And I don’t know if the bills put forward were the right bills.”
But, he added, “I think inspections are necessary and a good requirement.”
As for the public’s reaction to the accident, DeLellis agreed it has made things more difficult for the industry as a whole.
“I believe it’s made people think twice about doing zip lines. I don’t necessarily blame them,” he said. “But I believe that with the changes we’re doing with this course, I think it’ll make the industry better, safer and stronger.”
The repair work is anticipated to take another eight weeks, David Weber said.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
