State officials and other dignitaries marked the opening of a new pier Friday at Hilo Harbor.
The 602-foot-long reinforced concrete pier, built parallel to the shoreline, will allow workers to load and unload barges more safely and efficiently, and separates cargo from the docks used by cruise ships, officials said.
A snowcapped Maunakea stood in the distance on a clear but windy day along the water’s edge as Kahu Danny Akaka Jr. blessed the new construction. The sound of his conch shell mixed with a steady mechanical hum from a vessel docked nearby.
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye said the project has been planned for more than 10 years and was worth the wait, despite some delays as a result of the discovery of contaminated soil at the site.
“I’ll tell you this is one of the best Christmas presents I personally have had and seen through the years,” said Inouye, who chairs the Senate’s Transportation Committee.
Officials noted the improvements were the No. 2 priority for the state Department of Transportation’s Harbors Division.
Darrell Young, DOT deputy director, said use of two ramps instead of one hopefully will cut the unload and reload time for the barges about in half. Moving interisland cargo from the aging and structurally deficient Pier 2, built in the 1920s, also will mean machine operators won’t have to worry about crossing the path of cruise ship passengers.
“There was a lot of room for error and a lot room for people to get hurt,” Young said.
The dock, known as Pier 4, itself cost $44 million, not including dredging, and follows completion of a new cargo area and improvements to the Pier 1 shed. Those projects combined cost $70.5 million, according to a DOT spokesman.
A machine operator, who asked not to be named, said the improvements increase the amount of room they have to work.
“It’s hard to get heavy equipment on the old pier,” he said. “It’s just more room and it’s a lot safer.”
Russell Moore, assistant district manager for the harbor, said Hilo sees four barges a week, on top of fuel shipments and at least one cruise ship. He said passengers aren’t always mindful of the heavy equipment around them and recalled one incident when a visitor was standing underneath a shipping container lifted by a machine operator to take a picture.
Young said DOT eventually wants to expand the harbor along Ocean View Drive but there’s no timeline for that project.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.