FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               February 21, 2006

CITY WILL CLOSE ONE BLOCK OF WARD AVENUE FOR NIGHT WORK

            The City advises motorists that Ward Avenue between Kinau and Beretania streets will be closed nightly starting Monday, February 27, 2006, to perform emergency repairs on the underground tunnel there.  Night work will be performed  from 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays until 5 a.m. the following day. The emergency repairs are expected to take one month to complete.

            Last October,  inspection of the earth under Ward showed several cavities and hollow spots around the 5-by-5-foot sewer tunnel that runs under the road. Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co.,  Inc., obtained a permit from the City in November to perform the first phase of the emergency work, which included pavement removal, installation of special flowable fill concrete to fill the cavities and the placement of a deck of metal beams and plates over the concrete to carry vehicular traffic.

            The inspection last year also revealed additional holes in the concrete roof and walls of the sewer tunnel. As part of the second phase of the emergency work, metal liner plates that were ordered

from Canada will be installed in the tunnel to repair those holes.

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