Stone Bridge abutment dawdling will cost Tiverton residents their Grinnell’s Beach season this summer and could cost the town its harbor if the state doesn’t get moving.

The state has been ‘about to start’ this crucial project for a half-dozen years now and says that this time it really means it. Tiverton should hold the state to that promise.

Based on that pledge, Tiverton recently decided to close adjacent Grinnell’s Beach for the summer. Sunbathing and heavy equipment are a bad mix.

Loss of that beach is a big deal for many. Though small, it’s close by, offers a refreshing sea breeze and is a good place for children.

A bigger deal is what might happen to Tiverton Basin if that abutment collapses, a very real possibility as anyone who has seen the crumbling structure is well aware.

Those abutments on the Tiverton and Portsmouth sides serve as the breakwater that protects the basin from the southern quadrant — the prevailing warm weather wind and wave direction and the direction from which many of the biggest storms blow in.

Without that barrier, every dock, every marina, every moored boat, every house by the water’s edge is at risk. Insurance rates will reflect that fact.

Complicating matters further is recent evidence that work on the Sakonnet River highway and railroad bridges significantly altered and accelerated basin currents, further endangering the bridge abutments.

The state has acknowledged the need for years. It has paid for surveys and studies of the former bridge, devised plans and announced schedules — timetables that have all come and gone.

This summer — while the beach is closed and before another hurricane season — this job needs to finally happen.