Rock scaling continues at Kamehameha Highway

Traffic in both directions of Kamehameha Highway near Waimea Bay will continue to undergo intermittent holds on Tuesday as rock scaling continues, according to the Hawaii Department of Transportation.

Officials said the holds will last no more than 30 minutes, but that an additional day of rock scaling — the removal of loose or potentially unstable material — is needed. Crews today had also held intermittent holds during morning and evening hours to continue debris removal and rock scaling, which brought down large boulders.

“HDOT does not anticipate boulders of similar size coming down independently once the scaling is completed,” officials said in a news release. “The barrier will be reinstalled after the scaling and will require a full closure for a couple of hours.”

The full closure of Kamehameha Highway near Waimea Bay will take place between 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Tuesday. The barrier will remain in place until rockfall fencing is extended.

The highway underwent an emergency closure at 7:23 a.m. Sunday due to a rockfall, which resulted in boulders hurtling towards the road. The highway reopened at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officials said they would provide a final update, including the cost of the emergency work and plans for future mitigation, later this week.