model studies; however, the scope of the WES mission has been expanded 

 over the years until now, in addition to hydraulics, research is con- 

 ducted in such engineering fields as soils and foundations, concrete, 

 flexible pavements, nuclear weapons effects, mobility, environmental 

 effects, geology, terrain analysis, expedient surfacing, soil dynamics, 

 and rock mechanics. 



The establishment of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Beach Erosion 

 Board (BEB) , was authorized by Congress in 1930 (Quinn, 1977). The BEB's 

 first laboratory facility was a small wave tank constructed in 1932 at 

 Fort Humphreys (now Fort Belvoir) , Virginia. This laboratory was moved 

 to Washington, D.C., in 1934. BEB Technical Reports 1 and 2, published 

 in 1941 and 1942, titled, "A Study of Progressive Oscillatory Waves" and 

 "A Summary of the Theory of Oscillatory Waves," respectively, have become 

 classics in the literature in this field. The BEB was abolished by Con- 

 gress in 1963 and most of its functions were vested in the Coastal Engi- 

 neering Research Center (CERC) . The CERC's missions are to: (a) conceive, 

 plan, and conduct research and development to provide a better understand- 

 ing of shore processes, winds, waves, tides, surges, and currents as they 

 apply to navigation improvements, flood and storm protection, beach ero- 

 sion control, and coastal engineering works; (b) furnish technical assist- 

 ance as directed by the Chief of Engineers in the conduct of studies made 

 by other elements of the Corps of Engineers with the view of devising 

 effective means of preventing erosion of shores of coastal and lake 

 waters by waves and currents; and (c) publish information and data con- 

 cerning coastal phenomena and research and development projects that are 

 useful to the Corps of Engineers and the public. Other functions assigned 

 to CERC by the Chief of Engineers are: (a) assist the Chief of Engineers 

 in planning and designing coastal works, including determination of prob- 

 able effects of such works on adjacent shorelines; establishment of hurri- 

 cane protection criteria; evaluation of effectiveness of proposed coastal 

 navigation improvements; and review for technical adequacy of studies, 

 plans, and specifications for beach erosion control and other coastal 

 engineering works; (b) provide staff support to the Coastal Engineering 

 Research Board in conduct of its functions; (c) maintain liaison through 

 appropriate Army and Governmental agencies with domestic and foreign 

 institutions having the same interests in order to evaluate the effect 

 of other efforts on the U.S. coastal research program; and (d) provide 

 consulting services on coastal engineering problems to other elements 

 of the Corps of Engineers and other Governmental agencies as directed. 



The work accomplished by WES and CERC, and other laboratories in the 

 United States, Europe, and Japan, has advanced the state-of-the-art in 

 coastal engineering research, and in the procedures used in the conduct 

 of hydraulic scale-model studies of coastal engineering problems, to the 

 extent that scale-model studies are conducted in connection with virtually 

 all coastal and other hydraulic engineering projects. 



3. Use of Models to Aid in Solution of Coastal Problems . 



As indicated in the discussion of the historical development of hydrau- 

 lics and hydraulic models, the scale model has played an increasing role 



