ENGINEERING PLANNING AND DES IGN 
In planning a shore protection project all factors pertinent to the 
problem must be considered to produce criteria necessary for a sound design. 
These factors are: 
1. Geomorphology of the beach area. 
2. Littoral materials. 
3. Littoral forces. 
4. Shoreline history 
Study of these factors permits further analysis as follows: 
1. Shore processes involved in the problem. 
a. The direction, average rate, and variability of littoral 
transport. 
b. Present and prospective rates of supply and loss, and 
quantitative deficiency or surplus in cubic yards. 
c. Manner of movement of littoral materials that produced 
the problem conditions. 
d. Predicted or estimated future shore conditions if no 
remedial measures are undertaken. 
2. Methods of correcting problem conditions. This includes 
the selection of structures by which the objectives can be attained, and 
considers their effects within the problem area and adjoining shore. 
3. Selection of design criteria for structures under con- 
sideration. 
As an example; consider the following proposed harbor area (Figure 
tS) 
1. Examination of the land form and a study of wind, wave, 
tides, and current directions indicate a seasonal reversal in drift, but 
a net dominance of the eastward component. Further, the resultant of the 
natural forces is found to strike the shore from a southwesterly direction. 
2. Present supply and loss are in balance, with a net volume of 
about 500,000 cubic yards per year passing the area in the dominant direc- 
tion of transport (eastward). In the recent past the flow of material has 
been uninterrupted eastward past the inlet. The problem arises from fixation 
of the inlet, which will cause accretion on the updrift side and equivalent 
erosion downdrift. 
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