By Michelle Cheang, Fung Associates, Inc.
The Hawaii State Department of Transportation (HDOT) is making a substantial effort to proactively identify Hawaii’s historic thoroughfares that have been instrumental in our state’s evolution into the modern age.
HDOT funded the Statewide Bridge Inventory that involves the initial analysis of approximately 800 potentially historic bridges constructed between 1894 and 1968 on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Kauai. The project intends to identify which of the bridges may be eligible for listing on the Hawaii or National Registers of Historic Places. HDOT has goals to utilize this inventory to develop a Programmatic Agreement with the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) to aid in future consultations and stream-line the approval process for various construction projects.
This photo: Kolekole Stream Bridge, Hawaii Island
Above: Ihiihilauakea, Oahu
A number of historic bridges were first identified in reports prepared in the 1980s and 1990s. The 2008 draft inventory and evaluation completed under the supervision of Spencer Leineweber serves as a basis for the current project team to update the eligibility status of all bridges. Bridges that are being considered include state and county owned bridges, but do not include private and federal owned bridges. While the project identifies historic bridges, the inventory does not take the place of consultation on specific projects that may impact them in the future. The inventory also does not address archaeological and cultural concerns in the historic identification process, but instead focuses on architecture, engineering and history.
HHF Executive Director Kiersten Faulkner serves on the DOT Advisory Committee for the project, along with representatives of the county public works and planning departments, the federal highways administration, state historic preservation division, and other community preservationists on each Island.
There will be more information coming soon on the Hawaii Statewide Bridge Inventory on a community facebook page (keywords: Hawaii Statewide Bridges). On the page, the community will be asked to help identify potentially historic bridges by providing stories regarding the bridge and historic events and/or persons of significance. Stories about each bridge should answer the question, “Is the bridge associated with events, persons, activities, or developments that was of importance to the community, island, or state?” Name, location (street and/or stream name), and photos of the potentially historic bridge are encouraged.
