BEACH EROSION STUDIES 



Beach erosion control studies of specific localities are usually- 

 made by the Corps of Engineers in cooperation vfith appropriate agencies 

 of the various States by authority of Section 2 of the River and Harbor 

 Act approved 3 July 1930. By executive ruling the costs of these studies 

 are divided equally between the United States and the cooperating agencies. 

 Information concerning the initiation of a cooperative study may be obtained 

 from any District or Division Engineer of the Corps of Engineers, After 

 a report on a cooperative study has been transmitted to Congress, a summary 

 thereof is included in the next issue of this bulletin. A summary of re- 

 ports transmitted to Congress since the last issue of the Bulletin and 

 listeof completed and authorized cooperaitive studies follow: 



SUMi'4ARIES OF REPORTS TRANSMITTED TO CONGRESS 



OHIO SHORE LINE OF LAKE ERIE - SHEFFIELD LAKE VILLAGE TO 

 ROCKY RIVER 



The area studied is located in Loraine and Cuyahoga Counties on the south 

 shore of Lake Erie from about 7 to 22 miles west of Cleveland Harbor, 

 Ohio. It lies between Sheffield Lake Road in Sheffield Lake Village 

 and the mouth of Rocky River, a distance of about l5 miles. Lorain and 

 Cuyahoga Counties, including the city of Cleveland had a total population 

 of about 1,500,000 in 1950. The city of Rocky River and lake front 

 villages have a combined population of about 20,000. There is little seasonal 

 change in population of these areas. The property along the shore line 

 of the study area has been developed mainly for private residential 

 purposes. The shore is publicly owned at the Avon Lake Village Water- 

 works, at Huntington and Rocky River Parks and at a number of small 

 village parks. Narrow beaches existing at some of these parks are used 

 for recreational purposes. 



The shore line of the study area consists of nearly vertical bluffs 

 from 20 to 60 feet in height. The surface stratum is composed generally 

 of boulder clay. The lower part of the bluffs exposed to wave action 

 is shale for most of the shore frontage of the area. There are few 

 beaches because of the small proportion of sand in the eroding bluffs and 

 because no material reaches the shore from other sources. Miscellaneous 

 groins and walls have been constructed in an attempt to prevent erosion 

 of the shore. Groins have been ineffective due to scarcity of littoral 

 drift, except where the bluffs are composed of unconsolidated material. 

 West of Avon Point the predominant direction of the minor littoral drift 

 is westward, east of that point, except in the city of Rocky River, it is 

 eastward, as indicated by accretion at groins. In Rocky River a slightly 

 greater amount of material east of groins is indicative of a slight west- 

 ward predominance of drift. 



The mean lake level for the months of March to December is about 1,6 

 feet above the established low water datum. The highest lake stage and 

 the highest monthly mean stage recorded at Cleveland, Ohio, are res- 

 pectively 5.2$ and about h feet above low water datum. Storms cause 



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