Haunted Kalihi Uka and Wilson Tunnel
Spiritual Kalihi Uka
Kupua stones, or pohaku kupua are stones that range in size from a pebble to a boulder that has either an odd shape or an odd feeling to it when someone with other than normal perception encounters it. These kinds of stones are said to be imbued with beings or shape-shifters whose duty it is to protect the area in which it is situated. Often, one will see sizeable pohaku on the side of a trail or a grassy median just off of the freeway that are decorated with flower lei, or pūʻolo (normally a ti-leaf bundle). It is a way of thanking the kupua for protecting the area and the people around it.
In the uplands of Kalihi, the gods Kane and Kanaloa journeyed along the coast of the island of Oahu until they came to Kalihi. For a long time, they had been looking up the hillsides and along the watercourses for awa. At Kalihi, a number of fine awa roots were growing. They pulled up the awa roots and prepared them for chewing, but when Kanaloa looked for fresh water, he could not find any. He said to Kane, “Our awa is good, but there is no water in this place. Where can we find water for this awa?”
Kane said, “There is indeed water here.” With his long staff, he began to strike the earth. The point of his staff went deep into the rock, smashing and splintering it and breaking open a hole out of which water leaped. Now they were able to mix their awa. This pool of fresh water has been known since the days of old as Kapukawaiokalihi.
In this area where Kane brought forth the water, one pool was icy cold and others were warm. It is said that Hawaiian mothers would bring their newborn babies to that spot and bathe them in the warm spring.
Close to the edge of these flowing waters stood two stones about four feet tall that were said to have been placed there by ‘e‘epa. These stones were called Hapuu and Kalaihouola and they were believed to be the kinolau of two kupua goddesses.
Strangers passing were advised to braid a lei and place it on the stones so that they would not meet with trouble. They will encounter no mists and cold and will not get lost. Naughty children were blamed for dipping lehua ohia branches in water and sprinkling the stones, causing the mountain to be covered with mist, and a drenching rain to fall. Sometimes the naughty children would throw away the visitors’ lei and the same thing would occur.
In October 1953, the two famous stones were completely destroyed by bulldozers when construction workers first cleared the area approaching the tunnel site for the Likelike Highway to be built. Hawaiians of the time believed that the destruction of these stones was probably the cause of the drought which gripped the island of Oahu during the fall months of 1953 and the heavy rains which had been falling the following summer that may have caused the Wilson tunnel cave-in in 1954.
Old Hawaiians during that time said that the only way to avoid further trouble would be to hold a proper ceremony to beg forgiveness for disturbing the sacred land belonging to Hawaii’s ancient gods. The ceremony would include the offering that included a particular black pig with a red stripe down the body, the pua‘a hiwa olomea, and a red chicken called moa ula hiwa.
Haunted Wilson Tunnel
There have been stories about the Wilson Tunnel being haunted since the first tunnel opened in 1958. People claim to have heard screams in the tunnel. Others have always gotten chicken skin while in the tunnel or have felt so uncomfortable that they do everything they can to avoid driving through the tunnel altogether.
In Jan 1954, excavation began on a tunnel that would connect Kalihi to Windward Oahu. The Wilson Tunnel would become a major artery through the Koolau mountain range, but almost immediately after construction began, the project was plagued with injuries. Two men were hospitalized in February after a jack slipped and hit them in the legs. Shortly after that incident, a number of injuries occurred from falling rocks while men were working inside the tunnel.
Six months after construction began, on July 9, Lawrence Ah Nee suffered a mild concussion when a trough fell on his head. He was confined to the Queen’s Hospital for a time and then released. The very next day, on Saturday, July 10, there was a massive cave-in. At least 15 and maybe as many as 20 steel ribbed supports collapsed in the cave-in. Workmen observed the supports buckling that morning and left the tunnel. The cave-in happened in the afternoon. While no injuries were reported, construction of the tunnel was halted for a whole month while the city and the contractor tried to decide who was at fault and what the next steps needed to be.
For weeks, there was so much conflict between the construction company and the city as they argued who was liable for the added cost and extended time. Engineers were consulted and the area surveyed. It was a complete mess. One safety engineer claims that he foresaw the tunnel cave-in and noted several other safety hazards in an inspection of the tunnel project three days before. The engineer’s report noting “imminent danger of landslides” was forwarded to the president of the construction firm handling the project. Other hazards noted were poor housekeeping in the repair shop and generator building, accumulated water outside the tunnel entrance, excessive speed on the part of dumping-equipment drivers, and unsatisfactory maintenance of the drilling rig. “Quite a number of accidents have already occurred at the Wilson Tunnel,” he said, “and, contrary to reports in the newspapers, at least one of them was of an extremely serious nature.”
More than a week after the initial cave-in, a sinkhole was found on the mountain above the tunnel. Fear that excavation of the cave in area would only open the way for more mud to slide down into the tunnel caused further delays. Meanwhile, the mayor at the time continued to insist that the collapse of the tunnel would not be at the public’s expense. He said a study of the contract specifications has convinced him that the cave-in is not the responsibility of the city and that any extra cost must be carried by the contractor.
Finally, one month after the initial cave-in, work on the tunnel resumed. The newspaper reports that extra cave-in precautions were being taken, including the addition of permanent concrete linings to be installed and steel ribbing to now be at 18-inch intervals, as opposed to the previous 3-foot spacing permitted under the original designs. Heavy rains from the week prior had subsided, allowing the tunnel to dry a bit.
Photos in the Honolulu Star Bulletin show the crew working to dig 4500 cubic yards of mud and rock that now filled the tunnel for a distance of about 200 feet. More than 75,000 gallons of water a day streamed along the tunnel floor and out the Kaneohe entrance, adding to the difficulty of the process.
At 5:30am on August 14, just 4 days after work resumed on the tunnel project, there was another cave-in This time, it took the lives of several men. Nine men were working that day. Manuel Gouveia, a mucking machine operator and father of four, said that dangerous landslides in the area they were working indicated to him that a cave-in was coming. He walked off the job and left the tunnel heading at 2am to the laughter of the other men.
Gouviea said that they were working on a tunnel platform high up against the tunnel ceiling and were protected only be steel ribbing. He said landslides from the ceiling on three occasions dropped large sections of earth against the ribbing. On each occasion, the crew members ran down a ladder from the top of the platform and, after the slide, returned to their jobs.
After the third landslide, Gouveia refused to go back to the platform and told his coworkers that he was quitting. “They laughed and asked me if I was scared,” he said.
While only one man, Matthew Kaonohi, escaped uninjured, Lawrence Ah Nee, who was also injured in July, the day before the first cave-in, was also there that day of the second collapse. Ah Nee said he could hear the steel cracking. He was closer to the front of the tunnel than the rest of the crew and said that he and another man took off running and ducked behind a large machine. The ceiling came down and Ah Nee was pinned against the side of the tunnel by dirt and wood and steel. A large plank fell across his body and other planks were falling all around him. He couldn’t move. He blacked out for a bit and then when he came to, he saw a patch of light, pulled himself out, and started running. Later, Ah Nee would state that two escapes were enough for him and he was quitting the construction business for good.
By the time rescue crews arrived, it was clear that one man, John Wright, was dead. Attempts to free him were hampered by a mass of steel ribbing and a cement mixer that had fallen around the man. Five other men were trapped in the mud. Rescue workers using shovels, saws, and acetylene torches dug 15 feet into the tunnel and another 15 feet down to rescue Albert Robello. A fallen timber created an air pocket over his body, saving his life. One of the doctors on the scene said it didn’t look good for the others.
On August 18, 1954, a story broke in the Honolulu Star Bulletin that exclaimed that there was another cave-in on July 28 that was kept secret. Since the tunnel was not being worked on and no one was injured, only the engineer, the construction company, and the mayor know about this second cave-in, making the Aug 14 collapse the third incident.
In a project that seemed to be plagued with incidents since it began, the heavy off-season summer rains that beat down on the Koolaus were blamed for the tunnel collapse that took the lives of 5 men. The rescue required scores of construction workers, city-county ambulance teams, Kaneohe police, and the fire department rescue squad. Friends and relatives of the trapped men maintained vigils outside the tunnel, praying that they would be reached in time. It took several hours for the bodies of all the men to be found.
18 months passed before construction resumed and the first tunnel opened to traffic in October 1958. Have the kupua been appeased? Do the spirits of those men still hover in the place where they lost their lives? Could the screams, the chicken skin, the uncomfortable feelings be attributed to the kupua or the ghosts of these men?
Allen Akina was 49 years old and lived in Palama with his wife and 8 children, whose ages ranged from 2 to 13 years old. Allen went to work at the tunnels on July 1, less than 6 weeks before the collapse.
41-year-old Henry Lima of Waimanalo lived with his wife and 5 children. Henry started work at the tunnel in January of that year.
John Wright was 32 years old and had recently moved his family from Kahuku to Hauula. He was married and had 4 children, at the time of the tunnel collapse, John’s 6-year-old son, John Jr was confined to Children’s Hospital due to Polio. John Sr had been working on the tunnel for about 6 months.
Reginald Kamanu of Kailua was 34 years old and had 3 children. According to his father, Reginald has been working at the Wilson tunnel for about 2 weeks.
Sam Kapahua of Palama was the only man on this list who didn’t have children. At 21 year old, he was a veteran of the Korean War. Sam’s job at the Wilson tunnel was his first job after returning from the military service.
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