LINN - NAHANT BEACH, MASSACHUSETTS 



The beach referred to herein as Lynn-Nahant Beach comprises 

 portions of the shore in the towns of Swanrpscott and Nahant and the 

 City of Lynn, a total length of about 2-3 A miles. The area is 

 located 7-1/2 miles north of the main entrance channel to Boston 

 Harbor and 9 miles northeast of the City of Boston. The shore is 

 publicly owned between the privately owned headlands, Blaney Rock 

 and Little Nahant, respectively at the north and south ends of the 

 beach. The publicly owned reservations are under the control of 

 the Metropolitan District Commission. Good roads follow the shore 

 for the length of the study area. Public parking areas have been 

 provided. All parts of the beach are open to the public without 

 charge. A nominal fee is charged for use of the public bathhouse. 

 The Swampscott and Lynn portions of the area are extensively 

 developed for year-round residential use. 



The northern section of the area studied is the mainland head- 

 land consisting of moderately high bluffs composed of a thin veneer 

 of till over bed rock. Rock outcrops occur at Blaney Rock and 

 Red Rock in this section. The southern end of the area is the 

 former island of Little Nahant, which also consists of bluffs of 

 till with rock outcrops. Between these headlands a narrow tombolo 

 has been formed, which separates Lynn Harbor from Nahant Bay, the 

 latter being a broad open arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The tombolo 

 averages about 350 feet in width and its crest is 15 to 20 feet 

 above mean low water . The narrow beaches fronting the headlands 

 on the mainland and Little Nahant are generally of hard-packed 

 sand with some stones and boulders. Nahant Beach on the tombolo 

 is composed generally of sand on the flat foreshore, with con- 

 siderable stone backed by low dunes on the backshore. 



The headlands on the mainland and on Little Nahant have been 

 protected by substantial seawalls. Most of the wall on the mainland 

 was constructed 4.0 or 45 years ago and is now in poor condition. 

 Erosion of the beach at the base of the wall has necessitated the 

 construction of toe walls to prevent undermining. Although the 

 tombolo between the mainland and Little Nahant has been reasonably 

 stable, a storm in 1945 eroded the dunes where they were not pro- 

 tected by riprap revetment. 



In furtherance of the general purpose of the study, specific 

 problems at Lynn-Nahant Beach were found to require determination 

 of the most suitable measures for insuring the stability of the 

 existing mainland seawalls, for protecting and improving the 

 tombolo beach in the vicinity of the bathhouse and for protection 

 of the tombolo from erosion and the possibility of breaching. 



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