The Island of Hawaiʻi (Appendix D)

Home

HAWAII HISTORY The biggest island, Hawaii (also called The Big Island), has a land area of 4,038 square miles and comprises two-thirds of the land area of the state. It is composed of five mountain masses; the highest peaks are Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea at 13,680 feet and 13,796 feet, respectively. Kilauea Crater on Mauna Loa is the world's most active volcano. Sheer sea cliffs, as well as deep valleys and gulches, grace the rugged, meandering coastline of the island. Hawaii Island contains by far the greatest concentration of historic bridges, perhaps due to its rural nature and consequent lack of development, and an abundance of land for alternate transportation routes without the destruction of older bridges and roads. Most of the Big Island's bridges are located along the Hamakua Coast, north of Hilo, due to its abundant rainfall and innumerable streams and gulches. In the 42.5-mile stretch from Hilo to Honokaa on Federal Aid Primary Route (FAP) 19,there are fifty-one bridges, more than one bridge per mile. Remnants of the Mamalahoa Highway,the former belt road which runs parallel to the new highway,serve as a sort of"bridge museum"with examples of almost every remaining bridge type in the islands, including some of the oldest and rarest bridges found in the islands.A number of early masonry(lava rock) arch bridges dating from 1894-1903 are located along the Mamalahoa Highway and are the oldest remaining bridges in the state.A second major area of bridges is in the Kau District, south of the Volcano National Park, albeit with considerably fewer than on the Hamakua Coast. In Kau, eleven bridges are lined up in a row along the FAP 11 within twelve miles of each other. In addition, numerous small county bridges were constructed over streams along the early twentieth-century homestead roads.