The state Department of Land and Natural Resources on Monday will begin installing new floating dock systems at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.

The project will involve replacing the 36-year-old "B," "C" and "D" fixed-concrete and floating docks with new aluminum-framed floating dock systems. The existing concrete dock systems are badly deteriorated and portions of the docks were determined to be unsafe and beyond repair, due to decades of neglect, officials said.

Floating docks B, C and D are located on the 'ewa side of the recently completed floating docks F and G, which were installed in 2007 and 2002, respectively, at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor.

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. will be moving crews and equipment to the project site on Monday. Installation of the docks is scheduled to begin in December 2008 and be completed by May 2009.

Modular sections of the floating dock are being fabricated by Bluewater Marine at its shop in Waialua. They will be delivered to the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor and unloaded directly into the water and assembled to form the main and finger piers, officials said.

The new floating dock system is made of corrosion-resistant 6000 series aluminum frames, which sit on heavy-duty polyethylene foam-filled floats, according to officials. The aluminum frame is topped with plastic composite decking.

The dock system consists of 389-foot-long, 8-foot-wide main piers, and 3- to 5-foot-wide finger piers, which will be connected to the new floating cross dock.

"The benefit of a modular dock system is its durability and low maintenance," said Ed Underwood, administrator of the state's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. "If damaged or worn it can be easily reconfigured and repaired. Whole sections can be swapped out and reconfigured."

The project cost is $2.85 million.