Test blast to happen this afternoon at the Kilohana temporary housing site in West Maui

The US Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors are planning to do a test blast this afternoon, May 16, at approximately 1-3 p.m. weather permitting, at the Kilohana temporary housing site for wildfire survivors on Maui. Kilohana is a 34-acre site is located off of a cane haul road near Wahikuli Road in Lahaina.

USACE is grading the land, installing utilities and preparing the site for 169 temporary housing units. The project is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state of Hawai‘i. 

The site is on hard rock, so blasting will need to be done to install utilities and grade the site. Blasting will be done by Blasting Technology, Inc., of Kīhei. Prior to and during the blast, traffic will be stopped on the cane haul access road.

“We anticipate the contractor having to blast once a day from 1-3 p.m. a few times a week. However, a specific blasting schedule is still being developed,” said Nate Wallerstedt, USACE temporary housing mission manager.

“We also anticipate additional truck traffic in the area during construction,” he said. “Our contractors will do their best to minimize disruption to the surrounding community. Safety, to include community and worker safety, is our number one priority.”

Preliminary surveys were conducted by USACE archeologists, and nothing of cultural or historical significance was found at Kilohana according to a news release announcement. Contractors will have an archeologist onsite for all ground-disturbing activities in the event something is uncovered.  

Work will take approximately six months to complete due to the size of the project and the site being on top of hard rock. Once construction is complete, the Corps of Engineers will turn the site over to FEMA for the installation of the housing units. As sites become available, FEMA may initiate installation of housing units before the entire site is complete.

The contractors will do their best to minimize disruptions throughout construction, although an increase in construction traffic is anticipated.