It’s been a good year for Royal Contracting Co. Ltd. The heavy civil contractor is in high demand for grading and infrastructure work at West O‘ahu’s major residential developments.
In 2024, this includes Ho‘opili Phase ll, Parcels 48 and 17, and Koa Ridge temporary reservoir work. And now Royal is also working in Kalaeloa, courtesy of Gentry Homes — Gentry’s new Ka‘ulu development is a mix of single-family and multifamily units.
Leonard K. P. Leong
“Phase 2 is 10 acres located in a coral ground foundation,” says Royal President and CEO Leonard K.P. Leong. “The degree of hardness in a coral formation varies, so Royal has utilized a trencher to excavate for sewer, drain and water to meet the budget and project schedule.”
Leong has also been focusing lately on bigger areas in West O‘ahu.
“Since the fire in Lāhainā, there have been efforts by the state and Honolulu Fire Department to identify areas requiring a fire break,” he says.
“[The breaks] involve clearing of vegetation on slopes along roadways, 30-to-50-foot-[wide] buffers around homes or commercial properties and clearing of roadways in unoccupied areas,” Leong continues. “Fire break clearing is similar to clearing of land for development, but the location is more challenging and restricted.”
Recently, fire breaks were needed along Corregidor Road and nearby roads that cross hundreds of acres in the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station.
“The improvement was to eliminate trees and debris along the roadway,” says Leong.
The roads are now clear, allowing for faster access to the area.
“Since the clearing, one major fire has occurred, and the fire department was able to contain the 100-acre fire,” Leong says.
HIGH TIDES
When site prep crews dig into the ground around Dillingham Boulevard, they reach O‘ahu’s water table at just 36 inches below street level. During heavy rains and king tides, water bubbles up in Mapunapuna, flooding businesses and washing up against passing vehicles.
To counter the growing threat of sea level rise, many state and federal agencies are mandating site elevations on new waterfront projects. Mandates are based on expected global sea level rise of 3.7 feet by the year 2100.
Current projects at the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s (HDOT) Kapālama Container Terminal and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard are building sea level rise elevations of varying heights.
Royal’s Reach
In addition to working with Gentry Homes to produce Ka‘ulu, a mix
of single-family and multifamily units, Royal Contracting Co. Ltd. is also working on the following projects this year:
Koa Ridge Temporary Reservoir
Royal constructed a 750 MGL reservoir that currently provides water for the Koa Ridge development’s second phase. Royal graded the lot, finished the tank subgrade, poured the tank’s concrete foundation, installed and connected tank waterlines to off-site lines and existing Board of Water Supply well system piping, constructed the tank’s electrical and control systems, and chlorinated and tested the tank to meet BWS potable water quality standards.
Ho‘opili Phase ll
The site will feature single-family and multifamily homes and Ho‘opili’s future high school. Infrastructure was substantially complete in October.
Ho‘opili Parcel 48
The finished site will feature 85 new single-family homes and was substantially complete in September.
Ho‘opili Parcel 17
Mass grading for single-family and multifamily homes was completed by September.
Ka Malu Koʻolau Kauhale, Hawaiʻi State Hospital
After completing sitework, Royal delivered 32 portable housing units. The project was completed earlier this year.
Hoʻokahi Leo Kauhale,
Middle Street
After extensive site prep, Royal delivered approximately 50 housing units. The project is tentatively scheduled to wrap at the end of the year.
“The pier elevation for Piers 42 to 43 at the new Kapālama Container Terminal will be 9.81 feet measured from the mean lower low water,” says Dre Kalili, deputy director of transportation for HDOT’s Harbors Division. “With a rise of sea levels of 3.2 feet, there will still be at least six feet of clearance at these piers.
“The range of the tides during the day (diurnal range) is about 1.9 feet. In a future scenario with the projected sea level rise and high tide, we calculate that there will still be at least four feet of clearance.”
At Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard’s Dry Dock 5 project, “approximately 13 acres surrounding the new dry dock is being raised about 3.7 feet, which will help offset anticipated sea level rise,” says Roy Morioka, project manager for general contractor DHO-JV.
Dry Dock 5 project, “approximately 13 acres surrounding the new dry dock is being raised about 3.7 feet, which will help offset anticipated sea level rise,” says Roy Morioka, project manager for general contractor DHO-JV.
Layne Hazama, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific P-209 design branch manager, says federal and industry criteria determine the dry dock’s approximately 3.7-foot gain in elevation.
“The P-209 Dry Dock 3 Replacement finished grade elevation is in accordance with criteria required by the National Defense Authorization Act 2019 and 2020 for Flood Mitigation and Climate Resilience, Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) for design flood elevation and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7 for tsunami,” he says.
“The new dry dock deck and finished grade elevation is to ensure facility and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam installation resiliency for a 100-year design service life. [It is] the cornerstone of the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for flooding, such as tides and storm surge, waves and tsunamis, in addition to sea level change.
“The design criteria for P-209 include a combination of UFC and ASCE for Flood Elevation and the Department of Defense Regional Sea Level Database for Sea Level Change,” says Hazama.
Morioka says buildup of the 13-acre site has not yet started. After existing finish-grade material is removed and new utilities installed, DHO JV will build foundation elements for new structures before raising the existing grade. Elevations will be made of compacted, locally sourced reclamation fill materials and capped with finishes.
“The 13 acres to be elevated about 3.7 feet surrounding [the dock] will be completed as expected in 2028,” he says.
