The Island of Hawaiʻi (Appendix D)

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Bridge Inventory Form Statement of Significance: The 2-Metal Pipe Culvert carries a reconstructed portion of the Mamalahoa Highway, a part of the Hawaii Belt Road, and provides road access from Hilo to Volcanoes National Park. The Mamalahoa Highway is named after King Kamehameha l's "the way or law of the broken canoe paddle" edict, popularly known as the "Law of the Splintered Paddle" that guaranteed the safety of all highways to travelers. The Mamalahoa Highway is also associated with Volcano Road, which was originally promoted by Minister of the Interior Lorrin Thurston in 1888 to link Hilo with Volcano House at the edge of Kilauea Crater, supporting tourism and connecting coffee and sugar plantations to Hilo. Completed in 1894 as a carriage road, Volcano Road was reconstructed to automobile standards as tourism to Hawaii National Park increased in the first half of the 20th-century. By 1947, roadside development encroached on fern-ohia forests and lead the National Parks Service (NPS)to begin planning for a bypass road and new entrance to the park to divert commercial traffic while preserving and enhancing the area's natural features for park visitors. The bypass road's construction began in 1961 and was completed by 1962. In 1964, the State of Hawaii took over maintenance responsibility for the Mamalahoa Highway, though the NPS has authority to review and approve any plans or changes to this stretch of road. The 2-Metal Pipe Culvert was part of HDOT's Volcano Road —Glenwood Section (Federal-Aid Project No. F-011-2(5)) project and indicated as Sta. 438+77.30 in diagrams. This project rebuilt a 4-mile-long section of Volcano Road for$1.8 million and was completed between 1967 and 1970 by J.M. Tanaka Construction, Inc. This culvert was previously determined eligible in the 2013 SHBIE as a "unique lava rock culvert."As a result of additional research, the culvert has been determined to be not eligible. The culvert was constructed after the Mamalahoa Highway bypass was completed in 1962 and after the State of Hawaii took over maintenance from the National Parks Service. It is not associated with earlier transportation improvements or with the transition from Hawaii's agricultural plantation economy to tourism. Therefore, the culvert is not significant under Criterion A. Research did not indicate an association with the lives of persons significant in our past and is therefore not significant under Criterion B. The culvert makes use of local basalt rock (lava rock) on one headwall and prefabricated corrugated steel tubes. It is typical of its period in its use of materials, method of construction, craftsmanship, and design. The culvert is therefore not significant under Criterion C. The culvert was not evaluated under Criterion D as part of this assessment. Therefore, the 2-Metal Pipe Culvert is not eligible for the NRHP. SHBIE Update 2024