The town of Bristol is taking the first steps to repair the crumbling and eroded rock dock at the end of State Street and has plans to make the dock better than ever.

Bristol Zoning Officer, Ed Tanner, says the restoration project has been years in the making and changes to State Street dock began on Monday. Tanner says the main purpose of phase one is to make the dock safe.

"We need to keep the foundation from deteriorating even more than it has," Tanner said. "It is the only deep water pier in Bristol, so we need to take care of it."

Daponte's Landscaping won the bid for the contract which includes filling in the voids along the rock wall, ripping up the thick top layer of concrete and laying down fresh concrete, as well as add 10-12 new pilings to protect boats that tie up on the west side of the dock.

Tanner says he is confident in Daponte's abilities to get the job done and is delighted that local contractors will do the work.

"It is a nice team with local guys who have done things like this before," Tanner said, noting that though Daponte's in a landscaping company, the contractors have experience with similar projects. "We're happy to have them on board."

Phase one will also include conduit pipes for lighting and water that can be set up in the future. In addition, a foundation will be created on the northwest corner for a proposed hoist and crane that fishermen can use to lift lobster traps and items from a boat.

Though phase one will simply lie out the basics for the dock, Tanner says phase two will make the area more useful to residents, tourists and fishermen.

"State Street dock is a working man's dock," Tanner said. "But at the same time, people go down there to park, read the paper and overlook the bay. We want to add benches, re-pave the parking lot and add lights to make it better for everyone."

Phase one of the project will cost approximately $200,000. Tanner says the Town Council has been putting money into the capital projects account for the past few years to fund the project.