MASSACHUSETTS 



The purpose of the investigation was to determine the best methods of 

 stabilization and protection and to develop detailed plans for protection 

 of certain limited shore areas. The study area comprised the shore of Cape 

 Cod Bay between the east end of the Cape Cod Canal, about 50 miles southeast 

 of Boston, and Race Point, Provincetown. It included the shores of the Towns 

 of Sandwich, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, 

 Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown, a total shore frontage of about 70 miles. 

 The shore area is developed principally for summer use. In 1955 the perma- 

 nent population of the coastal towns was about 31,000. The summer population 

 of these towns is about three times the permanent population. The principal 

 publicly owned sections of shore are located in Dennis, Brewster, Orleans, 

 Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro. The shores of the westerly part of the study 

 area are fully exposed to waves of the Atlantic Ocean approaching from the 

 north and northeast across Cape Cod Bay, The predominant direction of 

 littoral drift in this section is eastward. The east shore of the study 

 area is exposed to waves from the northwest to southwest generated in Cape 

 Cod Bay. The predominant direction of littoral drift on this shore is 

 northward, except on Provincetown Beach where, due to the orientation of 

 this beach, it is toward the southeast. Tides are semi-diurnal, the mean 

 ranges being 8,7 feet at the Cape Cod Canal entrance and 10.1 feet at 

 Wellfleet Harbor. The maximum tide of record at Boston was about 5 feet 

 above mean high water, with tides of 3 feet or more above mean high water 

 occurring about once a year. The study area is characterized by bluffs of 

 unconsolidated glacial material which supply material to the beaches. Groins 

 have been found to be capable of causing accretion in areas where there is an 

 appreciable supply of material from eroding bluffs. Elsewhere the natural 

 supply of material is insufficient for the formation of adequate protective 

 beaches by groins alone. The building and maintenance of adequate beaches 

 may be accomplished by artificial placement of sand. The rate of loss of fill 

 can be reduced by groins, except where movement of material is principally to 

 the offshore bottom. 



The Division Engineer and the Beach Erosion Board developed plans for 

 protecting and improving the shores of the area, and made economic alalyses 

 of proposed protective and improvement measures for shores eligible for 

 Federal aid in protection. They found that practicable plans which merit 

 consideration for the protection and improvement of shores within the 

 study area are as follows: 



a. Town Neck Beach; Widening about 6,500 feet of beach to a 

 12^-foot width by direct placement of suitable sand fill and raising the 

 inshore end of the existing Cape Cod Canal jetty. 



b. Spring Hill Beach; Widening about ll;,000 feet of beach to a 

 125-foot width by placement of suitable sand fill in a stock pile at the 

 westerly end of the beach. 



c. Brewster Bluffs; Widening about 5,000 feet of beach to a 

 125-foot width by direct placement of suitable sand fill. 



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