State Historic Bridge Inventory and Evaluation (2024 Update)

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STATE HISTORIC BRIDGE INVENTORY AND EVALUATION 2024 UPDATE upgrading of the Hawaii belt roads that had begun in King Kalakaua's reign (1874-1892). After annexation in 1898, the practice of letting contracts to professional builders was used more widely in the islands. Several masonry arches remain along the Mamalahoa Highway on the island of Hawaii, and on the Hana Highway on Maui. These routes were once the primary transportation arteries in their regions. The Mamalahoa and Hana Highways are characterized by narrow, winding lanes and innumerable streams and gulches. The Mamalahoa Highway was bypassed by the construction of a new belt road in the 1930s, leaving intact a high concentration of historic bridges. The numerous single-lane bridges of the Hana district have been preserved due to the lack of development along this remote region of Maui. Unlike timber, or later concrete and steel bridges, masonry-arch bridges utilized locally available construction materials. However, construction of stone bridges, which employed arch building technology imported from the United States and Europe, required skilled labor which was scarce in the islands. The Hawaiians were skilled in laying stone and had a long tradition of dry masonry-rubble construction, a technique utilized for heiau (temples), house platforms, walls, and agricultural terraces. Unfortunately, by the mid-1800s, the decimation of the native population by disease resulted in a chronic shortage of labor. After 1885 imported labor, particularly Portuguese and Japanese masons, oversaw the construction of masonry arch bridges. Important builders involved in the construction of masonry arch bridges include Louis M. Whitehouse and John H. Wilson. Whitehouse was one of Hawaii's most prolific early contractors. In partnership with Wilson (who later served six terms as Mayor of Honolulu), he built the first section of the Nuuanu-Pali Road on Oahu, part of the Belt Road on the island of Hawaii, and several masonry arch bridges, including the Mamalahoa-Pukihae, Mamalahoa-Laupahoehoe and Nuuanu Avenue arch bridges. With another partner named Hawxhurst, he built the 1903 Waiakea and Wailuku River steel bridges in Hilo (both since replaced). Masonry arch bridges are generally eligible under National Register Criterion A and C. Masonry arch bridges are eligible under Criterion C as notable examples of the use of vernacular building materials and the artisanship of local craftsmen. The local basalts which compose the lava rock used in bridge construction are unique to Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific;thus, these masonry arch bridges may be the only representatives of this type in the United States. Eligibility Requirements The bridge must retain its integrity of location. Since masonry arch bridges were constructed as permanent structures, all extant examples are in their original location. The setting of the bridge must remain relatively unchanged; by-passing the original transportation artery with a new highway does not necessarily exclude a property if the bridge's immediate surroundings retain its historic qualities. The design of the bridge, particularly the arch sub-structure and the spandrel walls, must also retain its integrity. Alterations that may be considered acceptable include those that occurred early in the bridge's history(i.e., within the period of significance) and in such a way that the alterations are reversible without diminishing the significant historic characteristics of the original bridge (by widening or lengthening the bridge by the construction of an adjacent concrete culvert, for example). o¢ 19