Hawaiian Electric continues repair work on East Oahu lines

Hawaiian Electric’s work on repairing one of the two main transmission lines that run across the Koolau mountains into East Honolulu will continue through the weekend.

Heavy rain damaged one of the transmission lines and caused 4,000 feet of a 46-kilovolt line to fall across a second transmission line on April 14, cutting power to about 13,000 Hawaiian Electric customers in East Honolulu.

Company officials said in a news release Friday that personnel and equipment were flown in by helicopter to the top of the mountain, and workers descended the mountain to reach the downed conductor. On the Waimanalo side of the mountain, workers cleared a path for work trucks to access the repair area.

Crews removed the line that fell across the second transmission line and new cables will be installed using a helicopter, Hawaiian Electric officials said.

A helicopter that flies personnel and equipment to the mountain to do the repairs is expected to fly above Waimanalo Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The helicopter will not fly over residential or populated areas while carrying loads, company officials said.

There is no planned disruption in electric service for the nearby area, they said.