The net littoral transport rate along Absecon Island is estimated to be 

 115,000 cubic meters annually in a southwesterly direction as determined from 

 estimated gross northerly and southerly annual rates of 191,000 and 306,000 

 cubic meters, respectively (U.S. Army Engineer District, Philadelphia, 1974). 

 Further evidence for southwest littoral transport is shown by Everts (1975) in 

 the pattern of deposition that decreased the width of Great Egg Harbor Inlet 

 (Fig. 1) 30 percent from 1949 to 1974. Everts also concludes that possibly 25 

 percent of the longshore transport could be accounted for by sand movement on 

 bars. 



Taking into consideration the previously mentioned lack of supply of beach 

 material from natural sources along with the net littoral transport to the 

 southwest, it is obvious that this imbalance of material leaving and entering 

 the area results in erosion of the beaches. These circumstances, in turn, 

 would require occasional beach nourishment to sustain the beach. Two such 

 beach-fill projects were accomplished during the study period, as previously 

 mentioned, with the fill material having a mean grain size of 0.3 millimeter 

 (Everts, DeWall, and Czerniak, 1974). A buildup of sand occurred from 1877 to 

 1939 on the northern end of Absecon Island, which resulted in the Absecon 

 Lighthouse being so far inland today. 



4. Wind, Wave, and Tide Data. 



Wind data shown in Figure 9 consist of hourly records obtained before the 

 profile study period by the National Weather Service (NWS) from an anemometer 

 atop the now abandoned Absecon Lighthouse (Fig. 4). Analysis of these data 

 indicates that the predominant wind directions are from the south and west. 

 The corresponding wind velocity from these directions is generally in the 

 22.5- to 45-kilometer-per-hour range (Fig. 9,b). This agrees with the result- 

 ant wind direction determined from data taken 16 kilometers inland at the 

 Aviation Facilities Experimental Station from 1968-72 (Fig. 10). Figure 9,b 

 also shows that most of the high-velocity winds (46.7+ kilometers per hour) 

 were from the northeast. The resultant wind direction, as shown in Figure 10, 

 is the magnitude of the vector sum of wind directions, and the average wind- 

 speed indicated is the sum of the recorded windspeeds divided by the number of 

 observations. 



Winds are from the west-northwest during the winter months of November to 

 March. From March to July the winds shift to the south with a shift back to 

 the west from July to September. After an abrupt shift back to due south in 

 October, the winds return to the west-northwest direction of the winter (Fig. 

 10). 



Data from the Summary of Synoptic and Meteorological Observations (SSMO) 

 (U.S. Naval Weather Service Command, 1970) show the predominant wind direc- 

 tions offshore of Atlantic City throughout the year (Fig. 11). Monthly data 

 indicate that the winter winds of November to March are from the west and 

 northwest, whereas the spring and summer winds of April to August are from the 

 south and southwest. These trends are in general agreement with those indi- 

 cated above for winds measured inland, except that neither September nor 

 October show directions nearly as predominant as the other months. 



The bearing of a line normal to the Atlantic City beach at Steel Pier is 

 approximately 26° east of south. Waves impinging from east of the normal 



17 



