The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-01-06
THE WAHIAWA DAM
AND RESERVOIR
OF THE WORK M
PORTANT FROM BOTH EN-
CHEERING AND INDUSTRIAL
STANDPOINTS.

The dam at Wahiawa across the
Kaukonahua stream has been built to
impound the flood waters of the stream
1t is of the rock-fill and earth type
with a water tight plank bulkhead set
in concrete, and a concrete cut off wall
across the base of the stream and to
depth of about 40 feet below the
original level of the stream. The dam
is about 100 feet in height above the
level of the stream 420 feet in depth
and 400 feet across the top. Contains
$4,000 cubic yards of earth 10000 cubic
yards of stone and 100000 feet of 2x12
selected and well seasoned redwood i'm
the bulkhead. 1t is intended to hold
water to a depth of so feet. The over
flowed area at that depth will be over
700 acres and the capacity of the reser-
voir 2,5OOOO 900 gallons. The dam was
built under the supervision of H. p.
Kellogg, engineer. While the dam was
being built the waters of the stream
were carried off through the permanent
outlet pipe As inches i'm diameter and
1900 feet long and then tunnels 700 feet
long feet in diameter and feet high
the timbering of these tunnels required
| over 100000 feet Of lumber.
The rock used in the construction of
the dam was brought from the Waia-
nae mountains five miles away. This
required a railroad line with equipment
of locomotive and go cars.
The earth for the fill was brought by
sluicing the earth into position with a
stream of water This required all the
earth on II acres of land feet deep.
The preliminary work on the tunnel
and stripping the base of the stream
was commenced carly in the year 1904
and and actual construction of the
dam about one year later,
The last part Of the work is now be-
! ing done. That is the stopping by
concrete bulkheads and earth filling Of
the three tunnels. 1t is expected that
this will be completed within two
weeks and when that is finished the
dam will be ready for immediate use.
In the winter months heavy rains
fall on the Koolau mountains and the
slopes forming the water shed Of the
Kaukonahau stream. The dam will be
completed in time to save much of the
flood water that would otherwise run
into the sea.
The Waialua plantation has used
the water for irrigation for many
years but as it had no means of stor-
ing large quantities of the flood water,
bitches with a daily capacity of about
40 900, 900 gallons were built and are
now in use making the water available
for irrigating over 1000 acres of cane
The object of the new dam however Is
not only to store water for continual
irrigation of the 1000 acres now in cane
but to provide water for large add
tional area extending from the upper
line of the pres mt cultivated area up
to the 725 foot level. For this latter
purpose a ditch is being eXcavated
from the outlet of the draw-off pipe Of
the dam along the sid of the Kaukona-
hua gulch TO a point on the plains
above Waialua. From this point the
water may be distributed over the en-
Itire area of the Waialua plantation.
This ditch is four miles in length 6
feet wide and feet deep, 19OSO feet OF
this ditch are 20 tunnels from 200 to 1900
feet i'm length through solid rock. The
engineer who laid out and is in charge
of this work is John Comes engineer
for the Waialua plantation. All OF
the tunnels except two are finished and
only 700 feet of tunnels are still un-
finished. Work on the tunnels is be-
ing carried on night and day. The
total cost of the dam and the ditch In
GLIDING cost of engineering, labor and
materia win be about $2S5,Q00.
w. w. GOODALE.