The Pohoiki Boat Ramp is now not expected to reopen until late 2024.
At Revitalize Puna, a quarterly community event discussing the recovery of Puna from the 2018 Kilauea eruption, county officials presented an update about the progress of reopening the ramp.
Finn McCall, engineer for the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Recreation, said that based on the current project timeline, construction is now expected to be approved to begin in May 2024, with a completion date estimated for November of that year.
The new timeline is a further delay from a previous estimate given last year, when McCall said construction could begin as early as late 2022, and end by mid-2023.
McCall said he expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency will issue a notice to proceed for the project this month, which will allow the DLNR to begin work on an environmental assessment. A draft of that assessment is expected to be completed in about four months, with the final assessment issued in about a year.
After that, McCall said, submitting and approving permits, as well as completing the final design of the project, will take another year, after which construction will finally be able to start.
FEMA is expected to contribute up to 75% of the estimated project cost of between $3.5 and $6 million. It will involve dredging a channel through the sandbar that has accumulated across the mouth of the boat ramp, with “marine mattresses” — metal meshes filled with rocks — lining the channel to prevent erosion.
The project is far more cost-effective than potential alternative projects, such as dredging the sand and building a pair of breakwaters, which is estimated to cost $38 million, or building an entirely new boat ramp, estimated to cost $28 million.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.