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Honolulu rail officials say they expect to know in about a couple of weeks what caused a temporary construction framework to accidentally “separate” from the elevated guideway over the weekend in Pearl City.
The incident happened about 7 p.m. Sunday as crews worked atop the guideway in a 20-acre area known locally as the Banana Patch, according to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation and its construction contractors.
The steel-and-lumber framework belonged to Kiewit Infrastructure West — the firm that’s building the first 10 miles of the rail guideway — and it was attached to the 3-foot-tall sound wall that’s being erected along the guideway, HART spokesman Bill Brennan said Wednesday.
Crews atop the guideway were preparing to load what’s known as a mobile “traveler” mechanism, which they use to move materials as they build the structure, when part of the frame collapsed, according to officials. No one was injured when it came off, and a “primary support system” kept the framework from falling to the ground, they added.
The full temporary frame and traveler system weighs more than 130,000 pounds, according to Kiewit officials. There were no structures or cars below the point of detachment and the accident did not occur over a public space, they said.
Crews eventually removed the detached frame from the guideway on Tuesday afternoon, Brennan said.
Rail officials said there had been no similar frame collapses during construction of the transit project prior to Sunday’s detachment. Crews need to use such frames only to help build the structure across the H-1 freeway, they added.
“Safety is of the utmost importance to the project team, and we’re currently reviewing the incident to prevent future occurrences,” Brennan added in a text message.
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