Miscellaneous revetments, seawalls, bulkheads and groins have been 
constructed by private owners in an attempt to prevent erosion of the 
shore. The ineffectiveness of groins in causing accretion indicates a 
lack of movement of beach material alongshore. The other types of structures 
have been generally effective against normal erosion, but many have 
failed as a result of storm wave action or flanking. 
The mean range of tide in Galveston Bay is about 1 foot. The highest 
tide of record in the bay area was 14.5 feet above mean sea level. 
Tides of 5 feet or more above mean sea level occur on the average only 
once in about 8 years. Maximum tidal stages accompany southerly winds 
and minimum stages result from prolonged northerly winds. The study area 
is exposed only to waves generated in Galveston Bay. Due to the shallow 
depth of the bay at normal tidal stages, wave action against the bluff 
at such stages is negligible. The shore between April Fool and Edwards 
Points is exposed to waves from the southeast and east. Such waves 
are generated by south to east winds which also cause above normal tidal 
heights along this section of shore. At storm tidal stages over 3 feet 
above mean sea level, which occur on the average only once in about 2 
years, waves up to about 2 feet in height probably break against the 
bluff. still larger waves probably reach the bluff during the more 
infrequent hurricanes with tides of 8 feet or more. Such waves are the 
most destructive forces affecting the shore. The cost of protecting 
against such infrequent conditions is prohibitive. North of Edwards 
Point the alignment of the shore is such that it is exposed only to waves 
from the north and northeast. As northerly winds do not increase, but 
tend to reduce tidal stages, the bay is shallower than during southerly 
storms. Consequently, large waves break before reaching the bluffs along 
this shore and it is believed that the maximum wave height at the shore 
under those conditions does not exceed 1.5 feet. 
The District and Division Engineers and the Beach Erosion Board 
concluded that the most practicable and economical plan of protection con- 
sists of a dumped mound of quarry-run stone with a filter blanket of 
shell to prevent leaching of clay from behind or beneath the mound. 
The minimum top elevation of the mound would be 5 feet above mean sea 
level from April Fool Point to Edwards Point, thence 3 feet above mean 
sea level to Kemah. The bank would be graded on a slope not steeper 
than 1 on and seeded and sodded behind the top of the mound. Since 
the shores of the study area are privately owned and existing Federal 
law does not include a policy of Federal participation in the protection 
of such shores, they recommended no Federal participation in the cost of 
any protective work. 
The Chief of Engineers concurred in the views and recommendations of 
the Beach Erosion Board. 
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