BEACH EROSION STUDIES 
Beach erosion control studies of specific localities are usually made 
by the Corps of Engineers in cooperation with 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 ob- 
tained 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. 
Summaries of reports transmitted to Congress since the last issue of the 
Bulletin and a list of authorized cooperative studies follow. 
SUMMARIES OF REPORTS TRANSMITTED TO CONGRESS 
HAMPTON BEACH, NEW HAMPSHIRE 
The area studied is located in the Town of Hampton in the southeast 
corner of New Hampshire. It comprises the shore of the Atlantic Ocean 
between the headland known as Great Bears Head and the entrance to Hampton 
Harbor, a distance of 1.8 miles. The shore area is extensively developed 
for recreational use. The permanent population of Hampton is about 2,850. 
The summer population was estimated at 21,500 in 1945, since which date 
additional facilities have provided for a larger summer population. Large 
numbers of daily visitors also use the beach. The shore is owned by the 
State, extept for about 0.2 mile which is owned by the Town and leased for 
private cottage use. 
Hampton Beach consists of a barrier bar or spit extending south- 
ward from Great Boars Head, the remains of a glacial drumlin. Erosion of 
that headland formerly supplied ample material to the beach to the south 
but protective works and the residue of coarse material have reduced the 
supply of material to the beach. Consequently the beach has slowly 
deteriorated. The problem area is about 1.3 miles in length between Great 
Boars Head and Haverhill Street. The shore boulevard along this area is 
partly protected by a seawall. The width of beach seaward of the wall 
decreases in width northward, and the size of beach material increases 
in that direction from fine sand to cobbles and boulders at Great Boars 
Head. 
Tides in the area are semi-diurnal, the mean range at Hampton River 
being 8.3 feet. The spring range is 9.6 feet. The maximum tide of record 
at Portsmouth, about 12 miles to the north, was 3.9 feet above mean high 
water. Tides 3 feet or more above mean high water occur about once in 
2 years. 
Hampton Beach is exposed to waves from the northeast, east and south- 
east. The fetch to the northeast is limited by Nova Scotia, about 250 
miles distant, but the Isles of Shoals about 11 miles away also afford 
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