KAPA‘A, Kauai — Residents said people were ignoring the signs and driving around them to use the ford crossing on Haua‘ala Road in Keapana Valley.
County engineers were on scene Friday assessing damage to the concrete ford crossing, which according to a hand-scribed section, appeared to have been built in 2005.

Concrete barriers have been placed at the crossing so motorists and pedestrians in the area will need to seek an alternate route to get to their destinations, states a release from Mary Daubert, the county’s public information officer.

The crossing was damaged during flooding from the Thanksgiving rains that amounted to more than six inches in the Kapahi area according to National Weather Service statistics.

Rains caused flooding, although not the high levels observed during the Nov. 13 rains when NWS recorded more than 10 inches in the area, but it was enough to overflow the crossing, and according to witnesses, when the levels subsided to below the crossing, portions of the makai crossing had literally blown out with slabs of concrete overlapping the crossing.

Additionally, the force of the water eroded a portion of the riverbank leaving a bite that still contained water from the Thanksgiving day flood.

The island remained under a flash flood warning issued by the NWS through 1:30 p.m. before the warning was rescinded. The Hanalei Bridge was also closed for most of the duration of the warning.

Daubert said the Haua‘ala ford crossing, also known as the Haua‘ala bridge, is closed until further notice.

After assessing damage, officials said the recent flood severely undermined the crossing, making it unsafe for passage.

Decisions on how to proceed with the repair work will be made in the coming weeks.

Residents familiar with the area said there are people in Valley House who will be affected by the closure. In addition, there are workers who work at Valley House as well as an unknown number of people who rent from Valley House who will be affected.

There is another access road through the Spalding monument, but residents said it has been muddy with all of the recent rains. Another access road from the Kealia Road side has been closed by the property owners when people started dumping trash along that road.

For more information, call Deputy County Engineer Ed Renaud at 241-4994 during normal business hours.