Kolekole Beach Park

{{Short description|Hawaii county park on the island of Hawaii}}

File:Hawaii Belt Road over kolek.jpg

Kolekole Beach Park is a Hawaii county park on the island of Hawaii. After a prolonged closure due to lead contamination found in the soil of the lawn areas,{{cite news | url=http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/local-news/kolekole-park-closed-due-high-lead-levels-source-contamination-unknown | title=Kolekole park closed due to high lead levels: Source of contamination unknown | work=Hawaii Tribune-Herald | date=April 19, 2017 | first=Jeff | last=Hansell | accessdate=December 19, 2017}} the park is rescheduled for reopening on April 24, 2024, following the $6.3 million in upgrades to the park and its facilities. [https://bigislandnow.com/2024/04/09/kolekole-gulch-park-set-to-reopen-after-upgrades-to-infrastructure/ Big Island News Kolokole Reopening]

The park is about {{convert|3|mi|km|abbr=on}} downstream from {{okina}}Akaka Falls, with an additional waterfall on the Ka{{okina}}ahakini stream that drops directly from a small cliff into the main Kolekole Stream as it forms an estuary at the ocean. The stream passes through a rainforest containing several varieties of orchids.{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/rivers/nationwide-rivers-inventory.htm |title=Rivers and Trails of Hawaii |work=Nationwide Rivers Inventory |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=2009-09-15 }}

The stream flows about {{convert|12.4|mi}}U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329155652/http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ |date=2012-03-29 }}, accessed April 28, 2011 from an elevation of about {{convert|8000|ft|m|abbr=on}} on the eastern slope of Mauna Kea (at coordinates {{coord|19|48|42|N|155|21|52|W |type:landmark_region:US-HI |display=inline}}) to sea level.{{cite gnis |id=361389 |name=Kolekole Stream |entrydate=30 Sep 2003 |accessdate=2009-09-15 }}

The Hawaii Belt Road (state route 19) passes over the park on a high bridge.

The park is located in the South Hilo District at coordinates {{coord|19|52|53|N|155|7|17|W |type:landmark_region:US-HI |display=inline,title}} near the 14 mile marker.{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaii-county.com/parks/kolekole.htm |title=Kolekole Beach Park |accessdate=2009-09-15 |publisher=County of Hawaii web site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218183805/http://hawaii-county.com/parks/kolekole.htm |archive-date=2009-02-18 |url-status=dead }}

The name Kolekole means "raw or scarred" in the Hawaiian language.{{Hawaiian Dictionaries |Kolekole Park |HASH017b0d8f44c4c7f9ecb99a0e |dic=hpn |accessdate= May 3, 2011 }}{{Hawaiian Dictionaries |Kolekole |dic=pp |accessdate= May 3, 2011 }} Camping is allowed with a permit.

The steel girder and truss bridge is over {{convert|500|ft|m|abbr=on}} long. It provides the only major road between the town of Hilo and the Hāmākua district. It was originally built as a railroad bridge for sugarcane trains, but after the 1946 tsunami the railroad was abandoned and the bridge rebuilt for automobiles.{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGlhbWLYQuYC&pg=PA268 |author=Harold Hamada, David Fujiwara and Char Nakamoto |work=Structural engineering in the 21st century: proceedings of the 1999 Structures Congress |title=Seismic Retrofit of Historical Kolekole Bridge |page=268 |isbn=978-0-7844-0421-8 }} E. Claude Moore was the County Engineer who designed and executed the plan to use the old railroad bridges to span the ravines for the Hawaii belt road. Claude Moore was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He attended Iowa State College and worked for the Iowa Highway Commission prior to World War II. After the stint as County Engineer, Claude Moore worked as a Civil Engineer for C Brewer Company. He designed many subdivisions on the island, and was a long time Scout leader and Director of what is now HFS Credit Union.