UPDATE: Umauma Bridge Remains Closed

***Updated at 5:30 p.m. to include updated information from the Hawai’i Department of Transportation.***

Improvements to Umauma Bridge’s foundation will be made Wednesday, according to Hawai’i State Department of Transportation spokesperson Tim Sakahara.

The update followed a bridge assessment Tuesday afternoon.

Umauma Bridge and about one-mile of nearby roadway has been closed since Thursday evening.

Sakahara said the foundation improvements are expected to be completed and the roadway reopened by Friday.

***Original story posted at 11 a.m.***

Umauma Bridge in the Hakalau area of Highway 19 remains closed Tuesday.

A one-mile stretch of roadway in the area was closed last Thursday evening with no mention of why it was closed. Multiple attempts by Big Island Now last week to obtain information on the closure came up empty.

Hawai’i State Department of Transportation spokesperson Tim Sakahara told Big Island Now Tuesday that the roadway was closed after “a significant amount of water flowed” under the bridge.

The closure and detour went into effect as a precaution, according to Sakahara. Motorists driving in the area have been detoured through the Old Mamalahoa Highway.

Umauma Bridge, which has been under continuous construction for bridge rehabilitation, is said to be undergoing a bridge assessment that is expected to be completed late Tuesday.