Park Service seeks to replace Pearl Harbor shore-side floating dock

The National Park Serv­ice is seeking public comment on a proposed project to replace the deteriorating shore-side floating dock and anchoring system at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Visitor Center.

The public is encouraged to bring forward any concerns, input, comments and suggestions during the 14-day public comment period, which began Monday and runs through Oct. 4.

The proposed dock would replace the old one with the same type of floating dock, which is not anchored to the bottom of the harbor and simply slides onto concrete pilings.

“The years of wave action, marine exposure and geological processes” have deteriorated the existing dock, resulting in “unsafe conditions,” the National Park Service said in a news release.

The dock “has been repaired for situational problems, but never been replaced,” said Jason Blount, public information officer for the Pearl Harbor National Monument. “This work is necessary to ensure long-term ability for visitors to safely disembark in order to visit the Arizona Memorial.”

The Park Serv­ice is preparing a categorical exclusion — a class of actions that a federal agency has determined, after review by the Council on Environmental Quality, do not have a significant impact on the human environment and would not need an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement (normally required under the National Environmental Policy Act).

Categorical exclusions can save time and resources and reduce paperwork, the council says on its website.

The project is expected to take eight to 10 months.

Pre-COVID-19, 4,300 visitors a day stepped onto this floating dock before being transported by boat to the USS Arizona Memorial, one of Hawaii’s most popular visitor attractions. The Arizona sustained 1,177 casualties during Japan’s Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

During the proposed removal and replacement work, the west side of the dock, currently out of commission, will first be removed and replaced, while the east side will remain open to visitors. And while the east side is worked on, the west side will be open.

The shore-side dock has broken down multiple times in the past, and access had been curtailed while temporary repairs were made, Blount said. The last time was October 2017 and caused it to shut down five days, preventing access to the Arizona Memorial.

The USS Arizona Memorial Dock also has undergone repairs, which took 14 months and were completed in September 2019.

The proposed visitor center shore-side floating dock project requires the removal of the existing concrete floating dock, two aluminum access gangways and four concrete guide piles, which are 16-1/2 inches in diameter by 70 feet long.

The plan shifts the new dock 5 feet west to avoid sediment buildup near the shore, and for two access gangways and a strut mooring system.

To prepare the site, six new reinforced concrete anchor piles and blocks on the land side would serve as anchor points to accept the new strut mooring system.

The anchor blocks might require ground improvements such as soil anchors or micro-piling to help hold the blocks in place.

The old concrete abutments, with their deterioration, cracks and exposed rebar, will be repaired and placed back in service, the National Park Service says.

To comment, go to the NPS Planning Environment and Public Comment project page at bit.ly/2DYXWX4.