Tuesday, January 04, 2022

The East side of Maui is home to a Bailey Bridge built by the Army Corps of Engineers, which led me down a rabbit hole of research and I discovered the Pu'unene Naval Air Station (1940-1947) which later became a dragstrip.



The Road to Hana runs approximately 52 miles from the beach town of Paia, over 59 bridges, and through 620 curves.

 One of the original steel and concrete bridges on the Hana Highway in Maui, Hawaii, damaged by erosion, has been paralleled by a Bailey bridge erected by the Army Corps of Engineers.   

In the mid-1950's, Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut purchased a war-surplus Bailey Bridge so vehicles could enter/exit the infield and paddock sections of the track while races were taking place. The bridge has been in continuous service since, and was relocated to new, raised pilings in spring, 2008. The track believes this may be the sole-remaining WWII-era Bailey Bridge in regular daily public service in the USA.

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/59256

The Bailey bridge is a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge, designed for use by military engineering units to bridge up to 60 m (200 ft) gaps. It requires no special tools or heavy equipment for construction, the bridge elements are small enough to be carried in trucks, and the bridge is strong enough to carry tanks. It is considered a great example of military engineering.

Donald Bailey was a civil servant in the British War Office who tinkered with model bridges as a hobby. He presented one such model to his chiefs, who saw some merit in the design and had construction started at a slow rate.

The bridge was taken into service by the Corps of Royal Engineers and first used in Italy in 1943. A number of bridges were available by 1944 for D-Day, when production was ramped up. The US also licensed the design and started rapid construction for their own use. Bailey was later knighted for his invention, which continues to be widely produced and used today.

http://bridgehunter.com/category/tag/bailey-truss/

Navy use of the Pu'unene Naval Air Station began in 1940, When elements of Utility Squadron VJ-3 arrived to tow targets & operate target drones for the fleet. The Army Air Corps also established a small support base at the airfield in the same year.

After the Pu'unene Airport was closed, Maui racers began using the old runways for impromptu races. It was decided to use an old runway for drag races and time trials in May 1956; it remains in use as Maui Raceway Park as an automobile “drag strip” and park for such activities as go-kart racing and model airplane flying.



The base was commissioned as Naval Air Station Maui in 1942, but it was smaller than a larger air facility on the coast five miles to the northeast at Kahului, NAS Maui was renamed NAS Puunene when the larger NAS Kahului was opened in March 1943.

The Navy's facilities at the field were expanded, to support CASU 4 & VF-72.

Army forces eventually concentrated on Oahu, leaving the Navy as the primary user of the field.

By the end of the war, Puunene had a total complement of over 3,300 personnel & 271 aircraft.

A total of 106 squadrons & carrier air groups passed through during WW2.

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