Motorists looking to get into or out of the communities atop Kaiwiki Road mauka of Hilo were held up Friday morning as road crews worked to repair a damaged bridge.
The approximately 20-foot-long, 6-ton Maili Bridge, which crosses Maili Stream, was damaged between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Friday as county road crews were moving a road grader. The grader apparently got caught on some of the bridge’s wooden planking, pulling up the planking in spots.
Police closed off the road, although area residents were able to cross the bridge on foot until repairs got underway. By 11:20 a.m., the bridge was reopened to allow cars through, and the roadblocks on either side were opened around noon to general traffic, according to Darryl Oliveira, Hawaii County’s Civil Defense director.
“The repairs went really quick. I have to give kudos to Public Works, they did a great job,” Oliveira said.
While the bridge was under repair, Civil Defense coordinated with police and fire, as well as the local homeowners association to open up an access road — known as Kopaa Road — on private property so that emergency vehicles could access the areas beyond the bridge.
“That’s one of the reasons I was down there this morning, to make those points of contact and set that up,” Oliveira said.
Fortunately, he said, no emergency services were required in the area while the bridge was out of commission.
Oliveira added that had the access roads not been available, helicopters were also available to provide transport in the event of an emergency.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.