Honolulu Harbor
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation is in the process of deciding how to improve Honolulu Harbor, a major lifeline for the state, over the next 30 years or so.
The Honolulu Harbor 2050 Master Plan proposes making the harbor wider and deeper, adding a second entrance, and creating a lock and dam system to combat rising sea levels.
The improvement plan, which could cost more than $1 billion, will reportedly increase efficiency for vessels and better prepare the state for an emergency. The Conversation talked to Derek Chow, deputy director of the department s Harbors Division, about what else is in store for Honolulu s main seaport.
Derek Chow, deputy director, Department of Transportation, Harbors Division (DOTH) tells
AJOT that the State of Hawaii has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study the construction of a lock and dam system for the ship channel entrances to Honolulu Harbor to combat rising sea levels.
In an April 20th email to the Hawaii Harbors User Group (HHUG), an association of maritime advisers, Chow wrote:
“ … we have asked the Corps of Engineers to help us investigate adaptation strategies … that include increasing the width and depths of the channels and basins, a secondary outlet through Kalihi Channel, and a lock and dam system that will help to control water levels within Honolulu Harbor. These are definitely costly modifications, but Honolulu Harbor is vital to Hawaii’s existence and we cannot afford not to address these needs.”