State Historic Bridge Inventory and Evaluation (2024 Update)

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STATE HISTORIC BRIDGE INVENTORY AND EVALUATION 2024 UPDATE 1.0: INTRODUCTION 1.1 OVERVIEW The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) is tasked with maintaining and managing bridges throughout the State of Hawaii, along with individual County departments of transportation. Many of these bridges meet or are approaching an age that warrants consideration as a historic property pursuant to state and federal historic preservation law. Projects that utilize state or federal funding must consider alternatives that are feasible and prudent before adversely affecting a historic property through undertakings that may include alterations, repair, and/or replacement of historic bridges. In the 1980s and 1990s, historic bridge inventories have been prepared for each island and combined into one document in 2008. Because of the volume of bridges in Hawaii, an efficient process for identifying bridges that are eligible for listing in the Hawaii Register of Historic Places (HRHP) and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) was developed in 2013 through efforts that resulted in the 2013 State Historic Bridge Inventory and Evaluation (SHBIE) by MKE Associates LLC and Fung Associates, Inc. Since publication of the 2013 SHBIE, HDOT has utilized the inventory to aid in project planning by identifying known historic bridges that may be affected by HDOT activities. This 2024 update builds upon the information from the 2013 SHBIE and an earlier bridge report completed by The Heritage Center in 2008 under the supervision of Spencer Leineweber of Honolulu, Hawaii. The current scope of work did not involve re-visiting the already developed bridge historic contexts or other major elements of the previous bridge inventories. Where possible, efforts were made in this 2024 SHBIE update to carry forward all relevant and useful information from the 2013 report. The following has been largely carried over from the 2013 report: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 (sections 3.0-3.7 with edits to text and footnotes where necessary), 2013 survey forms for bridges not receiving updated forms, Appendix E, and Appendix F. The SHBIE has been updated to include State and County bridges constructed from 1968 to 1977, identifies bridges that may have been substantially altered since the 2013 SHBIE, and reevaluates 100 bridges HDOT identified as "Priority Bridges" as part of future project planning activities. Of these 100"Priority Bridges," all but two were state-owned. The SHBIE update also provides a historic context for 1968-1987 (section 3.8)to cover the completion of Interstate H-1 and the beginning of construction for Interstate H-3. 1.2 REGULATORY BACKGROUND STATE LAW Hawaii Revised Statutes(HRS), Chapter 6E (1976) Chapter 6E of the HRS regulations requires the "development of a statewide survey and inventory to identify and document historic properties."1 The State Historic Preservation Officer(SHPO) is required to coordinate the activities of the political subdivisions of the state in accordance with the state plan for historic preservation. Further, HRS § 6E-8, Review of effect of proposed State and County projects, requires HDOT to provide the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) with an opportunity for review 1 State of Hawaii, §6E-3 Historic Preservation Program, under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 6E, http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/hpd/hpfctsht.htm (accessed April 1, 2013). o� 1