Old 16x32 in-ground vinyl lined. Both Liner and concrete around pool in good shape. However - wide metal coping is heaving (uneven) and rusted. To make it worse I now have chipmunks burrowing under gaps where coping raised and digging in dirt underneath. Tried trapping them and filling with Great Stuff, etc but only temporary fixes. Time to replace...

Question - is this old coping "joined with the concrete" and is the only option to drain the pool, unhook the liner from the coping j-tab, cut the concrete and replace the coping? Sounds major and expensive...

Sorry in advance if I'm overlooking the obvious but new to posting here on forum. Thanks.