Why are some people surprised at how much money it will take to repair the convention center water leaks and repairs (“Hawai‘i Convention Center needs more than $15M quick fix for leaks,” Star-Advertiser, March 19)? The cracks and needed maintenance are no surprise to engineers and contractors.
Concrete structures inherently leak as they age, especially in Hawaii where we have ample rain and hot sun.
I was manager of the H-3 tunnels, which were opened in 1997, one year before the convention center.
There is much more rain in the Koolaus than Waikiki and the flat concrete roofs started leaking after 15 years. In 2014, the continued leaks began to endanger the room housing our computer servers.
Fortunately, we were able to obtain funding through the Department of Transportation special maintenance project funds and a new protective layer above the concrete roof was installed.
There are two problems with the convention center: the original design and the lack of a special maintenance project fund.
Money is needed to fix the problem now. But also, future projects should be designed and built with sloping roofs or special maintenance funds to keep the water out.
Clyde B. Morita
Kaneohe
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