Waimea Swinging Bridge

Waimea Swinging Bridge Repair. There had been a rock slide at Waimea Swinging Bridge a few months ago (late 2021 or early 2022). These are a few photos of the repairs that were done. The new lumber shown depict the extent of what was damaged. Construction company really did a good repair. From those other rock slide photo's, the rocks had filled in this area, totally demolishing the foot path and damaging vertical column integrity. 

Similar to Hanapepe Swinging Bridge, this is also a cable suspension bridge. Below is where the structural bracing is bolted into a concrete form. They have used long bolts and steel mounting brackets to mount those thick wood supports to the concrete form. New cables, new hardware, new lumber. Interesting to see how this was put together. Built to last a long time. Waimea Swinging Bridge is a special place.

Looking from the other direction, this shows the other point of view. The morning sun is shining in this direction. Rock slide made this impassible. Those right hand side cliff's have been there since ancient times. Menehune ditch flows along the bottom of the rock wall.  

Waimea Swinging Bridge is a special place. It allows residents on the other side of the river access to Menehune Road, which in turn is access to town, maybe 1.5 miles down river.  It's very peaceful here. If it is getting too hot, just walk over in the shade. If getting too cool, walk over in the sunshine. Breeze off the river keeps things very mild.

Hanapepe River Levee Walk

February 2022. A previous blog entry presented Waimea River Levee Walk. Hanapepe river also has a levee. With some spare minutes, thought to do a follow up to that walk. This levee is very well maintained and from the photo's, the grass has been recently cut. This was a first time walk. I understand the residents privacy concerns. There was ample foliage that serves as a natural visual privacy barrier.

This was in the mid-morning, and in February. The temperature was mild and just a little breeze. Doing this at noon in the summer would be a lot different. Came across this little fellow. Friendly little pup. He is from the area and was just out on his morning stroll also. It's best to not offer food because he is someone's dog. But if he had come over, certainly a pat on the head or a back scratch would have been ok.

The river flows very slowly. Normal tropical water birds frequent the area, though none are in the photos. These hills are formed in layers and are volcanic. On and adjacent hillside workers have tagged (with paint) certain area and are installing mediation steps in regards to rock slides. Thousands of years of weather, rain, the elements, it is part of natural evolution of hillside rock slides. Rock slides has now become a factor in all future hiking adventures.

Below is looking back at Hanapepe Bridge.

This was a first time walk along the levee. It was a peaceful and wonderful experience. There was no one out at this time in the morning through there was a family coming across the bridge as I was leaving.