Crews back at work on fishpond
By ILIMA LOOMIS Staff Writer
WAILUKU – There was more than normal dismay felt by the crew of volunteers involved in rebuilding the rock wall that forms the Koieie fishpond when a section of the wall collapsed earlier this month.
“It’s cultural work and spiritual work – it’s not just regular work,” said Kimokeo Kapahulehua, president of ’Ao’ao O Na Loko I’a O Maui, the association restoring the historic fishpond.
He estimated it would take about a month to reset the stones shaken loose from the wall that had been put up last year by the volunteers who are restoring a site that is believed to date back 1,500 years. According to some traditions, the walls were last restored by Kamehameha I.
The volunteers are confident that they have reset the rocks in the wall to hold up against normal forces of deterioration, including heavy south swells. The boulders all are placed without mortar following traditional Polynesian techniques for stone work. The workers suspect that construction work on a new education center at the nearby Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was a factor in the collapse.
The construction included pounding a series of 50 concrete pilings into the sandy ground. The sanctuary offices are on the north end of the Koieie fishpond, which stretches along the shoreline at Kalepolepo Beach Park and the Menehune Shores condominium.
Two sections of wall running 40 to 60 feet crumbled into the sea a day or two after Dec. 29, when workers said they felt vibrations and tremors as a construction crew was driving pilings at the sanctuary grounds, Kapahulehua said.
“No one is sure what happened, but there has been some concern that heavy construction work at the whale sanctuary headquarters, including driving of cement pilings deep into the earth, may have contributed to the problem,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy, which is overseeing the sanctuary construction project, discounted the effects of the work.
“The Navy does not believe construction efforts were a cause, but is looking into the matter,” said Denise Emsley, a public affairs officer, in a written statement.
The work to drive the pilings for the new education center was completed in December, Emsley said. The entire project should be finished in August.
Patty Miller of the sanctuary did not comment directly on the damage but said in a prepared statement that the sanctuary was partnering with the fishpond association to support outreach and educational activities.
“We are excited about the progress they are making and all of us look forward to ensuring the integrity of the restoration of the wall and pond,” she said.
Kapahulehua told The Maui News that the wall damage was a personal blow to the dedicated workers who have invested both emotional and physical energy into the fishpond restoration project. The crew took several days to gather their thoughts and feelings before going back to work on Tuesday.
It’s not the first time the fishpond wall has been subjected to powerful forces – Kapahulehua noted that the structure withstood a “serious pounding” from heavy surf earlier in December.
Humans have also had an impact. Stones were displaced by a fisherman walking on the wall last year.
Kapahulehua said his group would post signs asking beachgoers to show respect for the fishpond by staying off the wall.
“We’d appreciate if people around it could be sensitive,” he said.
Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com. |
