BEACH EROSION AND ACCRETION AT 

 VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, AND VICINITY 



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Victor Goldsmith, Susan C. Sturm, 

 and George R. Thomas 



1. INTRODUCTION 



The National Shoreline Study (U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers (1971a) con- 

 cluded that more than half of Virginia's 933-mile shoreline is undergoing 

 severe erosion (26 percent) or noncritical erosion (30 percent) . The 

 cost of improvement of the Virginia area was estimated at $89.5 million 

 (in 1971 dollars) . Since the only significant shoreline population 

 center in Virginia is the major commercial area of Virginia Beach, this 

 is the area of greatest economic importance, with respect to shoreline 

 erosion problems. However, within this area, the shoreline changes are 

 quite irregular (Goldsmith, 1975c; Sutton and Goldsmith, 1976). 



This study presents and analyzes beach survey data measured at 18 

 profile lines (Figs. 1 and 2) from September 1974 to December 1976 and 

 integrates these data with older surveyed data at 14 of the 18 same 

 profile lines. Additionally, to provide background information needed 

 to better plan and understand studies at the CERC Field Research Facility, 

 which is just to the south of the southern end of the study area, data 

 and observations made in Currituck County, North Carolina, are also 

 included (Fig. 1) . 



1. Previous Studies, 



Previous beach studies at those beach profile lines that have been 

 reoccupied in this present study, are summarized in Table 1 and shown in 

 Figure 2. Photographs from these profile lines are in Appendix A. Pre- 

 vious studies are detailed in Goldsmith (1975a) . 



Watts (1959) studied effects of beach fill on Virginia Beach and 

 calculated net volume changes in the nearshore and intertidal parts of 

 the profile line between 1946, 1952, 1955, and 1958. He concluded that 

 84 percent of the nourishment material placed on the beach between 

 Rudee Inlet and 46th Street between September 1964 and June 1952 had 

 been lost. However, the beach widtn remained the same during this 

 period due to the nourishment. The first detailed studies of beach 

 changes in Virginia were undertaken by Harrison and Wagner (1964) . In 



