Since 1824 the Corps has been responsible for 

 navigation improvements, channels and waterways 

 for commerce and navigation. In 1900 following 

 the disasterous Galveston hurricane, the Corps 

 commenced shoreline protection. And in 1930 the 

 Corps was assigned beach erosion control. 



A. Navigation Projects 



The authorities, poUcies, and procedures per- 

 taining to the Corps' channel and harbor program 

 have developed over many years on the basis of 

 many general and specific Congressional Acts. For 

 navigation projects. Federal responsibility is 

 limited to provision of channels, basins, and 

 protective works; local interests are responsible for 

 lands, terminals, and other landside appurtenances. 



Except for certain small improvements, each 

 project is specifically authorized in accordance 

 with a long-established procedure that involves an 

 engineering and economic determination following 

 extensive coordination and consideration of the 

 needs and desires of the Federal, State, and local 

 interests concerned. 



About 500 commercial harbors with depths up 

 to 45 feet have been provided in addition to 250 

 harbors for small craft. About 23,000 miles of 

 intracoastal and inland waterways have been de- 

 veloped. The armual waterborne commerce of the 

 country amounts to about 1% billion tons having a 

 value of about $11. 5 billion. 



Methods to improve navigation vary. Harbor 

 entrances are protected by jetties or enlarged by 

 dredging. Harbors are created by inclosing an area 

 of open water within breakwaters, or by dredging 

 estuaries and excavating inland areas. Rivers are 

 improved by clearing and snagging, dredging, and 

 the construction of locks and dams. 



In addition, the Corps of Engineers administers 

 certain Federal laws protecting and preserving U.S. 

 navigable waters. This responsibility includes 

 granting permits for structures over and in such 

 navigable waters, estabhshing regulations for use of 

 navigable waters, including dumping grounds, fish- 

 ing areas, restricted areas, and danger zones; 

 estabhshing harbor lines, and administering the 

 Refuse Act prohibiting the disposal of refuse in 

 coastal and other navigable waters. 



In funding commercial navigation projects the 

 Federal Government usually bears the entire con- 

 struction cost of commercial navigation projects 



and operates and maintains them. Aids to naviga- 

 tion are fully Federal. Non-Federal interests are 

 generally required to provide terminal facilities, 

 berthing area dredging, and the necessary lands, 

 easements, rights-of-way, and spoil disposal areas 

 with retaining dikes and alterations or relocations 

 of utilities where necessary. 



B. Beach Erosion 



Corps of Engineers activity in coastal erosion 

 stems from the Act of July 3, 1930, which 

 estabUshes the Beach Erosion Board^* to furnish 

 technical advice to the States on methods of 

 providing coastal protection. By subsequent Acts, 

 most recently the River and Harbor Act of 1962, 

 the legislation was extended to permit the Corps 

 of Engineers to conduct studies at Federal expense 

 of the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 

 the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, and lakes, 

 estuaries, and bays directly cormected therewith. 

 Only those erosion problems caused principally by 

 waves and tidal currents are eUgible for study 

 under existing law. Federal participation is limited 

 to 50 per cent for protection of publicly owned 

 non-Federal shores which are not park or conserva- 

 tion areas, and 70 per cent for park and conserva- 

 tion areas. Protection of Federal property may be 

 accompUshed entirely at Federal expense. 



Since 1946, when Federal participation in 

 construction was first authorized. Federal aid has 

 been given to over 100 projects with a total cost of 

 about $237 million, with the Federal contribution 

 approximating $94 million. 



C. Hurricane Protection 



After a series of disastrous hurricanes in the 

 early 1950's, in 1955 Congress expanded the 

 Corps Civil Works mission by authorizing a study 

 of hurricane protection problems on the Atlantic 

 and Gulf seaboards. The Flood Control Act of 

 1958 authorized the first three recommended 

 hurricane protection projects with the requirement 

 that non-Federal interests assume 30 per cent of 

 the cost. Hurricane protection reports have been 

 the basis for Congressional authorizations totaling 

 an estimated $361 million. Additional projects are 



^*In November 1963 the Beach Erosion Board was 

 disestablished and replaced by the Coastal Engineering 

 Research Center. 



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