I would wonder if the closing is actually due to the threat posed by the ships weight collapsing against the colomns supporting the walkway above the ship? That’s the only reason I can think of for such a closure, risk to life. If that’s the case, it’s just an engineering problem to solve. Removing the existing walkway and replacing it with something supported differently. One-two years in design and construction.
Consider, the belt armor on the Arizona is 13 inch thick solid steel. Imagine the side of the ship falling away against one of the columns of the existing walkway?
I’d bet that’s the issue.