Visitors won't be able to board the USS Arizona Memorial while a new dock is installed this summer./NPS

Visitors hoping to board the USS Arizona Memorial at World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Hawaii will this summer want to avoid June 13-26, when the dock will be dismantled, removed, and replaced.

Although a boat ride to observe the USS Arizona will still be available, people will not be allowed to disembark onto the memorial during the project. All other visitor services will remain unchanged, as the USS Bowfin Submarine, USS Battleship Missouri Memorial, and Pacific Aviation Museum will continue to be open to the public.

“We are grateful for our close partnership with the U.S. Navy and all of the work that they're doing to ensure that visitors during this period will still get to see the USS Arizona and its memorial, even while the new dock is being installed,” Superintendent Jacqueline Ashwell said in a release. “The patience shown by those interested in the memorial is deeply appreciated.”

The USS Arizona Memorial is one of Hawaii’s most-visited sites. It and the World War II Monument honor the 1,177 crewmen who died in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The new dock was designed in Hawaii by a local company and constructed in Bellingham, Washington, by a vendor accustomed to fabricating docks destined for Hawaiian waters. The dock will be transported by truck to a staging area on Ford Island and then floated to the memorial, where it will be attached using anchor blocks and mooring chains. A series of skid-proof ramps will replace the combination of steps and ramps that currently provide walking and wheelchair access from the dock to the memorial.