Bone fragment found during rail route survey

Surveyors uncovered a section of a human pelvic bone near the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Punchbowl Street on Saturday morning during archaeological digging tied to the city’s $5.26 billion transit project.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation must complete the archaeological surveys along the entire route before construction can resume under a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in August.

The fragment was found near the Federal Building among fill material, meaning it’s unlikely it was buried there originally, HART officials said.

Deborah Ward, a spokeswoman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said state archaeologists and the Oahu Island Burial Council were notified. Digging continued, nothing else was found, and the trench was recovered, Ward said.

The find is the seventh involving human remains since survey work began on more than 230 trenches, HART officials said. Of those, two were deemed full burials. One was at Halekauwila and Kiawe streets, the other at Punchbowl Street near Pohukaina.

Work remains on only one site, HART officials said.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu of the Oahu Island Burial Council said the latest find comes a day after council members met with HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas and other transit officials for an update. Wong-Kalu said she expects HART officials "will continue to hold to its word to us at the burial council, as well as (lawsuit) defendants and larger community, that they will treat the iwi with respect and dignity."

Grabauskas said his agency will continue to work with the State Historic Preservation Division and the council "and follow their direction, and will continue to ensure that all iwi kupuna are treated respectfully and in accordance with state law."

Construction on the town portion of the project is not set to begin until 2014, "so we have ample time to make any necessary adjustments," Grabauskas said in a statement.