Oahu’s rail system is far from complete, but there’s already damage to parts of the guideway.
A viewer contacted KHON2 via Report It, alerting us to a large crack at the top of the column.
The rail line winds through Kapolei, but if you take a closer look, you’ll notice something that shouldn’t be there.
On Kualakai Parkway in Kapolei, you can see the columns and guideway going up and it looks consistent until you get to one particular spot. Then there’s a horizontal crack in what is called a segment.
“Large-sized cracks are not normal, only hairline cracks are acceptable in concrete,” said University of Hawaii engineering professor Panos Prevedouros.
Prevedouros said there’s reason for concern because right now, the segment is not structurally sound.
“How does a crack appear in heavy-duty concrete?” KHON2 asked.
“It’s actually a part of the natural curing of the concrete from being very wet in the beginning and then getting dry,” he said.
In a statement, HART said, “The segment and column highlighted in the photos were already identified by HART and are in the process of being either replaced or repaired by Kiewit at their cost.”
Kiewit is the company that’s building rail. HART officials do not know how long it will take for the replacement, but workers will have to make a new segment, because even though they look alike, each is unique.
It takes five days to make one segment.
KHON2 also found out this isn’t the first time this has happened.
Another part of the guideway was damaged near Farrington Highway last June. HART officials said it was damaged when it was installed. Nearly a year later, workers are still trying to replace it.
“This is actually very complex because although it looks like a simple thing, it’s a bridge. And every time you have a component that is questionable on a bridge, it’s not very easy necessarily it’s easy to fix it,” Prevedouros said.
