Roadwork on Haleakala Highway continues
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KAHULUI - Work on installation of a concrete overlay pavement on the Pukalani-bound lanes of Haleakala Highway will continue this week, state highways officials have announced.
The state Department of Transportation said the project will shut down one lane at a time and will involve a five-mile stretch of the uphill-bound lanes of the highway.
Phase I involves the section between North Firebreak Road and the Keahua junction. Phase II will continue the replacement pavement work to Haliimaile Road and a third phase will repave the highway to the Pukalani turnoff.
The affected sections of the highway have been coned off while the work proceeds, with peak afternoon and evening traffic contraflowed onto a downhill lane.
The contraflow lane will be in place from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. today and Tuesday, and from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday.
Maui District highways engineer Ferdinand "Fred" Cajigal said the $6 million project will provide a pavement that will last longer at a lower overall cost than the standard asphalt pavement installed on the downhill lanes.
The contract calls for installation of a 4-inch-thick concrete pad after the original surface has been cold-planed down. The concrete will be cut into 4-foot squares to provide expansion gaps that control cracking but which will also ease any repairs, he said.
If a section is damaged, only the square that is damaged will need to be replaced.
He said the decision to use concrete instead of asphalt is based on the increasing cost for asphalt, which is an oil-based product, and comparisons of the durability of the two materials.
While initial installation using asphalt would be lower, about $4 million, Cajigal said an analysis established that the concrete pavement would be expected to last three times as long as asphalt. Asphalt has a normal life span of 10 to 12 years, he said.
"It's basically a similar surface, but with an ultralong life compared to asphalt," he said.
Drivers are asked to approach the work area with caution and to observe all signs and traffic controls.
The work is subject to weather conditions.
