Uncle BIlly's

[MarkD]

40 years ago they had another study about moving Bayfront Highway inland (right after the bandstand looking south) and then creating an expanded Bayfront park that people could walk to from downtown Hilo.

The breakwater study probably disappeared down the same hole that one did.

Sometimes I think the people running Hilo like to keep Hilo exactly the way it is. No big changes. And whatever you do, don't do anything that would attract any more people from the mainland into moving here.

[Guest]

whaaaa BillyB ... were you there ? : )

[ElysianWort]

@MarkD: Sometimes I think the people running Hilo like to keep Hilo exactly the way it is. No big changes.

Well yes of course. Sometimes changes don't work as planned and wind up worse than the start. But either way even if a success, a big change means a big amount of out tax $$ needing to be spent on said project.

Politicians would much rather do nothing and line their pockets with that tax money instead of doing something with it.

[MarkD]

"But either way even if a success, a big change means a big amount of out tax $$ needing to be spent on said project. "

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True. But a large portion of funding for a Hilo breakwater renovation would be federal. Built around 1908, our breakwater is archaic. (Incidentally, it does not abate tsunamis.)

And for the feds to fund something like this, there has to be strong local interest. Why award federal funding to a city that is apathetic about improving its bay?

And what do federal officials see when they come to Hilo? A community that built a highway on top of a beach and a fence to block people from walking to the sea.

Do we see this anywhere else in Hawaii? Any coastal city in the U.S. done this? Even one? Would citizens in any other U.S. shoreline community roll over when Transportation Dept. officials declare they're going to pave and fence off their main beach?

I wouldn't be surprised if federal officials relegated the idea of renovating the Hilo breakwater to the bottom of the Corp of Engineers' nationwide list of proposed shoreline projects.

[ElysianWort]

Hmmm interesting Mark.

I'm not confirming or denying because I honestly don't know either way.

But what proof is there that our breakwater wall "does not abate tsunamis?"

[alaskyn66]

"Contrary to urban legend, the Hilo breakwater was built to dissipate general wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo.

In fact, in 1946, Hilo was struck by a tsunami generated by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands; it was struck again in 1960 by a tsunami generated by the great Chilean earthquake - both tsunami overtopped the breakwater and Hilo sustained significant damage, including to the breakwater."

http://totakeresponsibility.blogspot.com...water.html

another one.
http://wesisland.blogspot.com/2009/09/bl...water.html

There is a difference between a breakwater and a sea wall from an engineering standpoint.

[dan d]

Plenty of beaches in California are fenced and paved. Way back in the 1960 paradise bay was completely fenced off to beach goers, we had to pay to enter,as it was then a private beach. Thats where most la beach scenes are filmed.
Aloha


HPP

[MarkD]

A private beach fenced off to the public is a different issue from what we have across from downtown Hilo.

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From alaskyn66: "There is a difference between a breakwater and a sea wall from an engineering standpoint."

OK. But how is the topic of sea walls relevant to the discussion about the Hilo breakwater?

[ElysianWort]

This is all very interesting and slightly shocking news. I didn't know that our wall was right there and did nothing to stop this:


https://www.livescience.com/3732-mystery...epens.html

[alaskyn66]

quote:

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[i]Originally posted by MarkD

OK. But how is the topic of sea walls relevant to the discussion about the Hilo breakwater?

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Just in the fact that a breakwater wont help with tidal surges(tsunamis), but a sea wall can be built for just that purpose.

I have a sudden craving for popcorn..