The Hawaiian gazette., 1913-07-25
Piles and Wall Do Not Prove
Strong Enough to Retain the
Vast Mass of Material Which
Cowposes the Fill and Structure
Prasentssgneyen Appearance.
InsistenceAUpon Blindly Follow
ing Specifications in Face of
Conditions, Which Foretold
Difficulty, One Reason Given
for Present Condition of Struc-
ture. ''1H' s''f 10
(Mail Specialize The Advertiser


HILo, July 2l.-The new wharf at
kullio Bay is sinking into the bav.
ana an attempt is now being made to
pun 1t back into place by means of
dead men and turnbucliles.
FOR some weeks past the troubles of
the new wharf have been the subject of
nnuch conjecture along the waterfront.
ihcre is no denial of the fact that it
has sunk. The wharf consists of n
great fill of coral debris which was
pumped up from the bottom of the bay
by the dredger which excavated the
wharf basin. The I'll is supposed to be
held In place on the town side by a
row of piles and on the makai side by
stone.wall
The trouble lies in the fact that the
piles and the wall have not been able to
mold in place the vast mass of material
which composes the fill. The mass has
settled and spread out towards the
sides. As consequence the wall pre-.
SCENTS the sad appearance of the side
OF kerosene tin which has seen better
days, presenting bumps and dents
which even a layman can detect with.
out difficulty. The piles on the other
side have been forced out of place,
so the wharf front, instead of present.
ing straight line, has curve which
deVlatcs some ten and a half inches
from the straight line.
Trouble from Beginning.
There has been trouble with the bot.
tom where the wharf was built, ever
since the construction began. Most of
those concerned place the blame on
family bn lanL ,f Jn.o IL.
specifications called for the driving of
piles fifteen feet below the surface, it
was found necessary to drive them
thirty-iivc, and 50 on. All this made
the expense run up, as the extra work
performed by the contractors had to be
paid for.
There are several theories as to lust
why the fill has settled Some of those
who are acquainted with the situation
claim that whereas the original data
gave the bottom of the bay HIS solid,
there was, as matter of fact, only a
layer of coral, with great caverns filled
with mud underneath AS conse-
quence, when the weight of the wharf
fill was placed over this coral. it broke
through.
Another theory, which is that adopt.
ed by Engineer Parks and others who
have been interested directly in the
construction, is based on the fact that
when the dredging operations were be.
ing carried on, it was discovered that
there was a great hole in the bottom
near the middle of the wharf. Fore
man Plummer of the dredger wanted
to fill in this hole so as to make it take
the same level as the rest of the basin
bottom Int this dio not tally with the
letter of the spec,6cations. and Assist.
ant Superintendent of Public Works
Wheeler insisted that those he follow.
ed phmmer insisted that If the hole
were left the slope at this point would
be So stecn that the wharf fiji would
slide into the hole. ,but the department
insisted on following the letter of the
speci6cotiops common sense and the
laws of gravity to the contrary Now
what has hannened il exactlv what
FIummer said would bapuan. The fill
il sliding into the hole.
Inst how serious tbe situation is. is
roint on which the authorities diff.
fer There are those who saw that the
wharf will never be as GOOD as il would
have been, had it been constructed on
sound nrinciples in the FIRST place
Thev claim that the fiji will ALWAYS
have a tendency to slide. and that
every hmm which the wharf is given
nv hip steamers moorinr there will aid
this tendency to bulge
On the other hand, the most common
opinion is that' once the trompie mas
been repaired, the wharf VIII be al
good as ever. They say that now inc
fill has assumed It's natural slope al,
along the line, ana that tnere WIZ
therefore he no more cause Tor ~ to
sink. They ada that ~ Is probable
that the front can be pulled INTO shape
and that, even II II cannot, tne enec'
of the slight cnrVe whieh u now pre-