Haikū Valley is an amphitheater-shaped valley on the windward side of the Koolau Range behind Kāneohe,

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

. The valley was the site of a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

radio transmitting station (later taken over by the Coast Guard as an OMEGA Navigation System station) and is part of the route of Hawaii's

Interstate H-3 Interstate H-3 (abbreviated H-3) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Hawaii on the island of Oahu. H-3 is also known as the John A. Burns Freeway. It crosses the Ko'olau Range along several viaducts and through th ...

. The Haikū Stairs (also known as "Stairway to Heaven") is a foot trail of over 3,000 metal stairs ascends to ''Puu Keahiakahoe'', a peak above the east valley wall. The stairs were originally constructed as a means of reaching the radio antenna attachment points high on the surrounding ridge line. The trail starts at an elevation of and covers an approximate horizontal distance of for an average slope of about 30 degrees (however, some sections are nearly vertical). The Haikū Stairs are closed to the public, although people still illegally trespass to experience the nearly two-hour climb. The facility initially was built following the attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

as a means of communicating with U.S. Navy ships as far away as

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

. The facility had a massive

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

system consisting of five massive cable antennas draped from atop one mountain ridge, and across the mountain valley to the top of the other ridge. The ridges formed a horseshoe shape around the valley. The natural height of the mountain ridges made for an excellent means of having an elevated antenna system. The construction and use of the facility was initially a classified military secret. The walls of the main building were over thick and made of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

. The building was designed to withstand a 500 lb. bomb being dropped on the top of the building, allowing people inside to survive.

References

External links

*http://www.haikustairs.org/ The friends of Haikū Stairs website {{Coord, 21, 24, 19, N, 157, 49, 54, W , type:landmark_region:US-HI , display=title Valleys of Hawaii Landforms of Oahu