The state today will begin work on a $2.8 million project to replace three crumbling concrete docks at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, part of a continuing effort to upgrade harbor facilities at Ala Wai and statewide.

The Legislature recently approved $10 million for harbor improvements, and the state has spent about $30 million in the past 4 1/2 years for such work.

Three new docks have been completed at the Ala Wai in the past year, and the latest project will replace B, C and D docks.

Boat owners who live aboard have complained about the condition of the docks for years.

"The piers have been taken out of service because they're so old that they're beyond maintenance," said Ed Underwood, administrator for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.

"Any dock in a harbor has a serviceable life, and you have to change them," he said. "The piers had a 25-year lifespan, and now we're at 36 years. We're way past due."

The harbor has the capacity to berth 750 boats. While most of the $10 million will be used at the Ala Wai, the appropriation will also pay for projects at boat harbors across the state.

When the Ala Wai project is completed, all of its piers will have been replaced with a new floating dock system made of corrosion-resistant aluminum frames that sit on heavy-duty polyethylene foam-filled floats.

The frame is topped with plastic composite decking. All the docks will provide connection to electricity, water, cable and phone service, Underwood said. Dock B is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Underwood said. Docks C and D will be completed in 2009, he said.

The 70 boats berthed at dock B were moved to other docks until the construction is completed.