RESEARCH IN PROGRESS 



Seven research projects investigat- 

 ing the design of and/or biology associ- 

 ated with shoreline structures are cur- 

 rently underway. Generally these pro- 

 jects can be placed in three categories: 



o Those looking for low-cost shore- 

 line protection measures for use by 

 the property owner; 



o State of the art reviews of the 

 structure type and/or its effect on 

 the environment; 



o Research about the effects of a 

 structure type on either the bio- 

 logical or physical environment. 



Projects investigating various low- 

 cost protection measures, such as the 

 Michigan Demonstration Erosion Control 

 Program, often include construction of a 

 structure as well as identification of the 

 problems. The other two types of re- 

 search usually concentrate on effects of 

 existing shoreline structures. 



The Michigan Demonstration Ero- 

 sion Control Program, initially funded 

 by the Michigan Department of Natural 

 Resources, began in 1973. Since that 

 time, it has received funding from the 

 several other organizations, including 

 the Michigan Sea Grant Program. The 

 objective of this program was to find 

 low-cost methods of protecting Michi- 

 gan's shoreline which a property owner 

 could help construct. Low cost was de- 

 fined as under $100 (preferably less 

 than $50) per square foot of protection. 

 Nineteen shore protection demonstration 

 installations have been constructed. 

 These include revetments, breakwaters, 

 bulkheads, and groins. Laboratory in- 

 vestigations and historical studies of 

 erosion conditions are also being con- 

 structed. It is hoped that by 1978 

 enough information will be available to 

 evaluate the effectiveness of each in- 

 stallation. A detailed engineering-eco- 

 nomic evaluation of the structures will 

 be made. Reports are published each 

 year discussing data collected during 

 the previous year. 



Greer (1976) reported that Robert 



Byrne and Gary Anderson of Viroinia 

 Institute of Marine Science are working 

 with sills to stop erosion in Chesapeake 

 Bay. The sills are installed offshore in 

 shallow water. They have used the poly- 

 vinylchloride-coated nylon Dura-bags 

 filled with sand to construct sills to 

 cause nearshore accretion. The cost for 

 each sill was approximately $12.50 per 

 linear foot (0.3 meter) installed. Pre- 

 liminary results indicate this method of 

 erosion control is very effective in 

 parts of Chesapeake Bay. 



Dr. Paul Shuldiner of the Univer- 

 sity of Massachusetts at Amherst is 

 heading an investigation of the impact 

 of highways on wetlands. This study 

 is being conducted for the National Co- 

 operative Highway Research Council. 

 The expected products will be an an- 

 notated bibliography, a state of the art 

 review, and six case studies. It began 

 in mid-1977 and was expected to be 

 completed by mid-1978. 



William Brisby of Moorpark College 

 (Moorpark, California) reports that a 

 consulting firm is doing a study on the 

 biota of Rincon Island, California, for 

 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

 Rincon Island is man-made, located ap- 

 proximately 0.5 mi (0.8 km) offshore. 

 A causeway runs to the island from 

 shore. 



J.M. Kieslich and C. Mason (1976) 

 of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

 are working on the channel entrance 

 response to jetty construction. In their 

 1975 paper, they generally concluded 

 that wave processes contribute more to 

 channel migration near a jetty than hy- 

 draulic processes do. Additional work 

 is being performed by them to quantify 

 the controlling wave and hydraulic pro- 

 cesses. Their results will be presented 

 in a future report. 



Two studies are underway at the 

 University of Rhode Island at Narragan- 

 sett. Neil Ross and Gail Chmurg are 

 conducting a state of the art review of 

 the biological impacts of small boat har- 

 bors. Daniel 0'Neil is investigating the 

 fouling communities on the floating tire 



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