FOREWORD 



Precision measurements of changes in the morphology of a given beach 

 can be of great value to engineers and others engaged in the design of 

 structures to be emplaced on or near the strand and to those concerned 

 with beach protective or beach nourishment measures. This present study 

 of changes in beach profiles and topography of the nearshore bottom at 

 Virginia Beach was undertaken because of the magnitude of the investment 

 of private and commercial resort property there, because of the artificial 

 beach nourishment project in operation there since 1955, because of plans 

 for the development of Rudee Inlet, and because of plans for the possible 

 installation of of a submarine sewage outfall system. 



This study is not intended to present a definitive analysis relating 

 wave action to adjustments in the shore profile at Virginia Beach. 

 Rather it serves to show the magnitude of beach profile variations that 

 may be expected over (1) a period of years; (2) seasonally; and (3) in 

 one case, for a single violent storm. The reader is referred to Beach 

 Erosion Board Technical Memoranda Nos. 55 and 57 for a statistical summary 

 of the wave action that can be expected in deep water off Virginia Beach 

 during an "average" year. 



This report was prepared by Dr. Wyman Harrison, Associate Marine 

 Scientist of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, in pursuance of 

 Contract DA-49-055-CIV-ENG-63-6 with the Beach Erosion Board, and in 

 collaboration with Dr. Kenneth Wagner, formerly Head of the Department 

 of Biology at the Norfolk College of William and Mary, who supervised the 

 field work at 61st Street. 



This report is published under authority of Public Law 166, 79th 

 Congress, approved 31 July 1945, as modified by Public Law 88, 172, 

 approved 7 November , 1963. 



