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 coopera- 

 ting 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. Summaries of reports transmitted to Congress 

 since the last issue of the Bulletin and lists of completed and author- 

 ized cooperative studies follow. 



SUMMARIES OF REPCSRTS TRANSMITTED TO CCMl^RESS 



HUMBOLDT BAY (BUHNE POINT). CALIFOINIA 



Humboldt Bay, located on the Pacific Coast of California about 225 

 nautical miles north of San Frjmcisco, is about 14 miles long and frcm 

 1/2 to 4 miles wide. Two long narrow sand spits separate the bay from 

 the ocean. The entrance has been stabilized by jetties under a Federal 

 navigation project, which also includes improvement of interior channels 

 north and south of the entrance. The principal community of the bay is 

 the city of Eureka with a population of about 23,000 in 1950. The 

 problem area comprises the sandy bluff known as Buhne Point on the east 

 shore of the bay directly opposite the entrance to the bay, and adja- 

 cent low lands. Sand spits at the north and southwest ends of the 

 problem area are respectively Elk River Spit and Buhne Spit. All the 

 shore of the problem area is privately owned. The problem area is 

 exposed to ocean waves entering the bay through the jettied inlet. 

 Waves of 18 feet and less in height cross the bay and break at dis- 

 tances from the shore depending upon their initial height and the depth 

 of water at the time. The tide in Humboldt Bay is diurnal, with a mean 

 diurnal range of 6.5 feet. The estimated highest tide is 9.5 feet 

 above mean lower lew water. Material eroded from Buhne Point has moved 

 partly northward to form Elk River Spit and partly southwestward to 

 form Buhne Spit. With recent development of a large power plant at 

 Buhne Point, its shore has been stabilized by a heavy stone revetment 

 about 3,200 feet long. North of that structure, frontage belonging to 

 the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company is protected by a timber bulk- 

 head 200 feet long and a low rubble-mound seawall 3,000 feet long. These 

 structures stabilize the shore, but waves overtopping the low wall delay 

 railroad traffic. Elk River Spit north of the railroad frontage is 

 undeveloped and its protection is not required. Buhne Spit extending 

 southwestward from Buhne Point is the site of a fishing resort. Its 

 shore is subject to erosion, the eroded material moving southwestward 

 and shoaling the Fields Landing channel of the Federal navigation project. 



The district and division engineers and the Beach Erosion Board 

 concluded that the most effective and economical plan for the protection 



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