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Barbers Point (Kalaeloa) Deep Draft Harbor

Barbers Point (Kalaeloa) Harbor is located on the south western shore of O’ahu. The project was authorized under Section 301 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965. The non-Federal sponsor is the State of Hawai’i Department of Transportation Harbors Division. The project is in the operations and maintenance phase.

Construction of Barbers Point was completed in 1985, with a total project cost of $59 million, which was cost shared with the State of Hawai’i Department of Transportation Harbors Division. The general navigation features include an entrance channel that is 4,280 feet long, 450-650 feet wide, and 38-42 feet deep; a 92-acre inshore harbor basin that is 38 feet deep; and two wave absorber structures (3,800 feet long with a 5–7-foot crest elevation and 900 feet long with a 7-foot crest elevation).  The harbor also incorporates a 21-foot-deep barge basin constructed in 1961 by the James Campbell Estate. Separately, the State expanded the harbor basin in 1999 along the northeast portion of the basin with a rectangular expansion, which is considered non-Federal area and is 1,100 feet long, 600 feet wide, and 38 feet deep. 

Hawai’i receives more than 98 percent of all goods through its harbors.  Much of the containerized items are first shipped into Honolulu Harbor, located on the southern coast of O’ahu, then separated and trans-shipped to the neighbor islands.  All bulk items such as fuel oil, coal, lumber, gravel, etc. are shipped to Barbers Point Harbor, then trans-shipped to the neighbor islands.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining the project structures and project depths in the entrance channel and turning basin area.  Maintenance dredging was last completed in 2016.