The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-02-14
THE DREDGER WORK.
The New Street Is Very Rapidly
Filling.
A Place for House Lots and a Drive-A
Much Needed Change the Re-
suit of Cholera.

Under the direction of the Super
intendent of Public Works, to-
gether with the work of the under
superintendent, Mr.. c. A. Fogarty
the retaining wall from the King
street bridge along on the lower
side of Nuuanu stream to a position
about 500 feet up the stream is pro-
crossing very rapidly, all things
being taken into consideration.
Twenty-Five men, composed Of
Americans, Portuguese and natives,
have been employed in the work
which has been in progress for six
weeks. About 400 feet of the wall
has already been completed. This
is built of rough stone and is nine
feet deep in places, five feet being
below the water and four feet above
at mean low tide.
During the progress of the work
the men had to excavate through a
gravel bed situated about $50 feet
from the street. The sand obtain
ed from this excavation was used
for the dam on the other side.
Beginning at about 200 feet
from the street there is a graceful
curve in the wall which will soon
be completed. 1t is now half way
across the stream and when finish
ed next week will reach completely
across to the grass bank on the
other side. The end at this place
will be about 500 feet from the
street. When this is completed
everything will be ready for the
opening of the new bed of the river
that will transform the whole place
into an entirely different one from
what it is at the present time.
The progress of the work of
building the wall has been very
much retarded by the slow mode
of transportation of the stone. On
accor Mt of existing circumstances
it has been found necessary to take
on a scow all the material that has
been used so far. 1t is slow work
getting to the place where the stone
is and still slower work getting
back again with load.
This will not last much longer.
As soon as the dredger has poured
out enough mud, silt and sand up
on the makai bank of the stream,
track will be laid along by the
side of the coffer-dam and then the
work will be expedited.
The dredger is making good pro-
gress in building up the bank and
making a large area of new land
and when it has finished its work
in that locality the Government
will have land all the way from
King street to the St. Louis bridge;
property along the stream will be
given fine frontage where before
nothing but filth and slime was
there to look upon and fine drive
way will also be furnished all the
way from King to Beretania street.
This will be a direct continue
ton of the road leading from the
old fishmarket. Hotel street will
then communicate with decent
thoroughfare whereas, before it
simply ran off into bulrushes and
filthy water.
A peculiar fact about the mud
silt and sand combination emptied
by the dredger is that it packs
down so solidly that pick-axe is
almost necessary to stir it when
once dried. There is hardly any
strain on the coffer-dam from this
bed although in some places there
are over nine feet of it. A minute
after a stream of this is poured out
of the dredger pipes it is hard and
solid, the water having percolated
through, leaving it in packed
condition. On account of this fact
no trouble has been experienced
with strains on the foundations.
The work on the whole of that
portion of Nuuanu stream just des-
cribed has proven most satisfac-
tory. Any one who retains even
the slightest recollection of what
it used to be will recognize none OF
the former characteristics in its
present improved form.