HONOLULU (KHON2) — A problem with the airport runway repairs at Maui’s Kahului airport caused delays across the state Monday morning.
“The asphalt plant that was creating the asphalt that we’re replacing out there, broke down. The motor that runs the auger that moves the asphalt through the plant broke. Because it was broken, we couldn’t get any of the asphalt generated from the plant to be able to place at the airfield,” explained Ed Sniffen, State Department of Transportation Director.
The state is doing night work on runway 2-20 at Kahului Airport from now until June. The plant went down at about 2 a.m. and restarted at about 4 a.m.
“During that time, we couldn’t place any more asphalt because none was available,” said Sniffen. ”So although we’re supposed to open the airfield at 6:30, we ended up extending that closure until 8 a.m. Because we needed more asphalt prepared, so we could place it, and then let it cool before we could open the runway safely.”
It’s just the latest incident of much needed repair and maintenance work bringing air travel to a halt.
Hawaiian Airlines in a statement said that they “share our guests’ disappointment by this morning’s delayed runway reopening at Kahului, which significantly impacted our operations.” Some work is scheduled like the runway shoulder and drainage work that’s started at Honolulu’s airport, forcing airlines to make flight schedule adjustments.
But cracks in the runway at Kona airport in January and again last month required emergency repairs.
“It’s becoming very disruptive. So, it’s essential that the state really look to squeeze out every possible federal dollar available,” said Hawaii Rep. Jill Tokuda.
Tokuda said years of not investing more money into the airports are showing up now.
“We need those really thorough assessments so that when it comes to asking the feds for money, and try to draw down on all this infrastructure dollars, we have a good number that we’re working with, and we have a solid plan of action for what repairs and maintenance are going to be required going forward,” said Tokuda.
The state this year received more than $30 million for airport improvements through the bipartisan infrastructure investment and jobs act.
That money is allocated to fund repair work in the terminals and checkpoint facilities. Tokuda suggested the state do an assessment to include priority work, including runway repairs.
Sniffen said DOT has an assessment plan that they update every year and welcome any additional funding that can be provided for long term repair work.
