The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-03-29

At Honolii is the first steel bridge.
This has been completed and forms
quite a land mark. It is composed
of steel Orders resting on four steel
towers. There are five spans of So
feet between the towers and one end
span of 40 feet The total length is
oil feet, and the height above wa
ter is 80 feet. Although there will
be other bridges more than twice as
high and nearly twice as long. still
the Honolii bridge is no small af-
fair. The view from the train while
crossing this bridge is alone worth the
railroad fare from Hilo to Paihaaloa,
the present terminus of the railroad.
/ After crossing the Honolii gulch, the
railroad line gradually draws away
from the shore, reaching an elevation
OF BIZ feet about a mile from the sea
and a little beyond the Kawainui
! gulch. From this point it turns to-
wards the shore again passing about
a half mile inland from the Pepeekeo
! Mill. Across the Honomu plantation
and beyond, save for a slight digres-
sion here and there, the line follows
/ the seashore closely. BY going in
land in this way the depression about
Onomea bay is avoided, and the
gulches beyond are crossed where
! least numerous and shallowest.
| At Pahoehoe gulch on the Hilo side
Of Papaikou is the largest culvert
on the railroad This is an arched cul-
vert 10 feet wide and 4S feet high,
just below the government road and
above a low waterfall. Resting on
this, as on the other culverts, is a
deep earth embankment
Beyond Honomu is a rather unique
diversion tunnel Here two deep
gulches, the Kolekole and Kaahaklni
reach the sea almost side by side.
+ Over the Kolekole stream a steel
bridge 80 feet high is being built I'M
der which almost any amount of wa
ter can pass. A tunnel about 200
feet long has been driven through
the intervening ridge, thus diverting
the waters of the Kaahakini stream
! into its neighbor, the Kolekole, and
enabling solid fill to be made
across the Kaahakini gulch
In addition to the Honolii and Kole-
kole bridges, there are two more
steel bridges between Hilo and Haka-
lau. The Kapue bridge near Papai-
kou, which has been completed, and
! is 412 feet long and Sc feet high, and
the Paheehee bridge, near the Homo
mu Mill, which is to be 252 feet long
and 80 feet high. In this section Of
twelve miles there will be but two
short wooden bridges, one crossing
tn Waiaama stream, between the
Onomea and Pepeekeo plantations,
and the other put in to piece out
fill where there was a shortage of ma
terial for filling.
On this first section will be some Of
the largest excavations and fills on
the whole road. The deepest cuts,
! I believe, will be on each side Of
the Honomu Gulch. There will be
20 feet deep and will furnish nearly
100000 Gu. yds. of earth and stones
to make an enormous fill across this
; gulch, the largest fill on the whole
line. The great cut 55 feet deep near
the Kolekole gulch has already been
described. There are other cuts from
30 to As feet deep, too numerous for
individual mention. In fact, the rail-
road might almost be said to run
through a great ditch, so much OF
y it's length is between steep banks
of earth.
Just before reaching Hakalau the
line takes turn inland to avoid the
plantation camp and the managers
premises, and reaches the side Of the
great Hakalau gulch through a big
cut some 60 feet deep. The Hakalau
= Maulua, and Laupahoehoe gulches
o which are to be crossed by this rail
/. road, are very deep and wide, and
' more like valleys than gulches. These
4 have always been regarded as tha
4 greatest obstacles to the construc
. ton of a Hilo-Hamalua railway. The
= sides of the first are so steep and
!. the bottom slope so slight that rail
road running inland along one side
and out along the other would b'
very long and very expensive to con
struct and maintain. In fact, Their
lie is not much choice but to go straigh
Is across. This will require stee
n bridge 772 feet long and 17S feet high
Mt The bridge planned has six spans Z
lie feet long and one So feet long, rest
IS
CONTINUED on Pare TwelYS.l