Section I. INTRODUCTION 



The demand for recreational and commercial facilities along the . 

 ocean shores of the United States has increased tremendously. This in- 

 crease has intensified problems in the shore area. 



Coastal engineers and scientists in their efforts to solve these 

 problems have a great need for information about what is happening along 

 a shore segment. Here the land is under constant attack by the forces 

 of nature. Wind, waves, currents and tides are actively reshaping the 

 coastlines, attempting to reach an equilibrium in a zone where change 

 is generally the rule. Many buildings, beaches, roads, and shore- 

 protection structures have failed because the designers of structures 

 had insufficient data concerning the natural forces involved. 



Even now when the need for such information is generally recognized, 

 the coastal engineer is handicapped because such information is rarely 

 available. The collection of the required littoral information at one 

 site requires a long period of time. 



What is required is a bank of data concerning the littoral environ- 

 ment. Such data would help engineers design and site shore facilities. 

 The data would also be of use to scientists in their continuing study of 

 the mechanics of littoral processes. 



The Littoral Environment Observation Program described in this 

 report makes possible the collection of many littoral variables that 

 can be collected inexpensively and quickly with simple instruments. 



Section II. PROGRAM 



1. History 



In late 1966 the State of California expressed to the U. S. 

 Army Corps of Engineers an interest in initiating a cooperative program 

 of data collection relating to littoral variables and the resulting 

 changes in beach configuration. The Corps of Engineers was requested 

 to cooperate in the program by accepting the responsibility of custody, 

 cataloging, and eventual analysis of the data collected. The Coastal 

 Engineering Research Center (CERC) , the primary representative of the 

 Corps in this field, accepted the proposal, provided that the data would 

 be obtained and furnished on a regular and systematic basis by the State 

 of California. 



After a series of meetings between representatives of all interested 

 parties, a pilot study at New Brighton State Beach, California, was under- 

 taken in the fall of 1967. The purpose of this study was to evaluate 



