PREFACE 



This report is published to provide coastal engineers with a descrip- 

 tion of beach changes at Westhampton Beach, New York. The 11-year study 

 was begun shortly after the catastrophic storm of 5 to 9 March 1962 and 

 was designed to measure the response of a relatively unstructured beach 

 to seasonal changes as well as storm events. However, 3 years after the 

 surveys were begun, a field of 15 groins requiring 5 years to complete 

 was constructed. Some of the effects of this groin field and associated 

 beach fill are included in this report. The work was carried out under 

 the coastal processes program of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering 

 Research Center (CERC) . 



The report was prepared by Allan E. DeWall, Geologist, under the 

 supervision of Dr. C. Galvin, formerly Chief, Coastal Processes Branch, 

 Research Division. 



Data collection was accomplished by the Survey Branch, U.S. Army 

 Engineer District, New York, under the direction of W. Muszak, as part 

 of the CERC Beach Evaluation Program (BEP) under the successive super- 

 vision of J. Caldwell, J. Darling, C. Galvin, C. Everts, and A. DeWall. 

 Data reduction and analysis were accomplished with the assistance of 

 B. Sims, J. Buchanan, M. Czerniak, W. Seelig, M. Fleming, T. Lawler, 

 L. Adkinson, E. Kohler, J. Jones, P. Campos, F. Weinman, and J. Headland. 

 Spectral analysis of wave gage data was done by the Coastal Oceanography 

 Branch. 



Special thanks are extended to the wave observers, including students 

 of Southampton College, under the direction of Professor C.L. McCormick; 

 F. Zimmer and N. Ackerson of the Long Island State Park Commission; M. 

 Stephenson, C. Douhan, and J. Keller of the Fire Island National Seashore, 

 and Chief Hickson of the Suffolk County Parks Commission. The author 

 acknowledges and appreciates the helpful review comments from Dean M.P. 

 O'Brien, Dr. R.L. Wiegel, and Mr. G.K. Nersesian. 



Comments on this publication are invited. 



Approved for publication in accordance with Public Law 166, 79th 

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

 Congress, approved 7 November 1963. 



TED E. BISHOP 



Colonel, Corps of Engineers 



Commander and Director 



