Rackety-rack. Rackety-rack.
That’s the sound Palolo resident Sharon Young-Nakaue has been hearing around the clock for seven months every time a vehicle crosses Pukele Bridge.
The bridge, just 15 to 20 yards from her home at the back of Palolo Valley, connects Palolo and 10th avenues.
Steel plates were installed in September when a contractor began repair work on the concrete bridge.
In an email to city officials dated Dec. 28, Young-Nakaue wrote, “My family was here for Christmas Day and my son started saying, ‘Come in (as the noise sounds like someone at our door),’ then we all started saying the same. We laughed, but that noise has kept me awake at night. I have even tried running the air conditioner fan at night to drown out the noise.”
Young-Nakaue learned a problem with the concrete mix had prompted the city to put the repair on hold.
On March 29 she sent city officials a second email. “The noise continues and the project has been abandoned. What is the holdup reason, and estimated date of completion?”
In an email response to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s questions about the matter, a city official said the product in question is Very Early Strength Latex Modified Concrete.
The city said Triton Marine Construction, the contractor, was informed last week that the manufacturer would be shipping an updated product as soon as possible.
“We anticipate completion of the project in mid-May, should all the testing and full installation of the VESLMC go smoothly,” said Andrew Perreira, spokesman for the city.
