The protection afforded by the offshore barrier islands renders 

 Mississippi Sound a relatively quiet body of water except during storms 

 or tropical hurricanes. The greatest fetch over which the wind blows 

 lies to the southeast and the predominant onshore winds are from that 

 sector. The natural forces therefore are such as to produce a 

 westerly littoral drift along the Harrison County shore, but the 

 quantity of Biaterial transported, insofar as can be detennined by 

 visual inspection, is relatively low. Pipe outfalls extending across 

 the beach, usually for distances of about 260 feet from the sea wall, 

 and other projections having similar groin effects, have accumulated 

 small quantities of material on their eastern sides, acccanpanied by 

 loss of some material and recession of the shore line on the opposite 

 sides. At Henderson Point, saxxl is escaping past the end of the 

 broken-concrete groin and is being deposited in the form of an under- 

 water bar trailing off to the southwest. There is also evidence of 

 seasonal reversals in direction of littoral drift, as illustrated l^ 

 the accompanying aerial photograph of the finished beach (Fig,6.^). 

 At the outer end of a number of outfalls, maintenance forces have 

 recently placed short rock groins at an angle bearing to the southwest 

 in an atteu^t to arrest the erosion on the downdrift side of the drai!>« 

 age outlet pipes* Their effectiveness for this purpose so far has not 

 been established* 



The beach maintenance program is carried out by a crew of about 

 50 men. The work includes reshaping the beach, filling low areas, 

 removing wind-blown sand frcai the adjacent roadway, cleaning the out- 

 fall pipes and building the rock groins at their seaward ends, and 

 sifting debris from the beach area by employing a beach "sanitizer". 

 The latter is a tractor-drawn machine which picks up sand to depths 

 of 6 inches or less and removes debris from it by means of a series 

 of mechanically agitated wire-raesh sieves. The sanitizer is 

 effective only during dry periods when moisttire content of the sand 

 is low. The beach maintenance and upkeep costs so far average about 

 $10,000 per month, according to engineers employed by the county. 

 No beach replenishment by dredging has been necessary since completion 

 of the fill and no major repairs to the drainage system or sea wall 

 structure have been required. It may thus be noted that a considerable 

 part of the maintenance cost so far applies to maintenance as a 

 recreational project rather than as a protective measure. 



The observed slope adjustments, the effect of the sand ridge on 

 the outfall drains and other experiences with the finished beach in 

 Harrison County were used as a guide in planning an extension to the 

 project along the waterfront in the City of Biloxi. The artificial 

 beach in Biloxi, ccmpleted in March 195U, was designed with a top 



