By the fall of 1948, the BEB was ready to submit its request for funding of the test 

 facilities to the Bureau of the Budget. Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton, who had become 

 President (the office formerly known as Senior Member) of the seven-member Board and 

 Resident Member of the BEB staff in July 1948, made this presentation. As a result of his 

 efforts, the BEB received its first direct appropriation to support the agency's research 

 program. This was in the amount of $350,000 for fiscal year 1950.^*^ 



One additional hurdle had to be cleared before the BEB could build the large wave tank 

 and shore processes test basin. This involved negotiation with the National Capital Park and 

 Planning Commission, which by law, had to approve aU new Federal construction in 

 Washington, D.C. The Dalecarlia Reservation, where the Board office and laboratory were 

 located, was on the outskirts of the city near a neighborhood of expensive homes. Again, it 

 was Gen. Edgerton who convinced the Commission that the test structures would not look 

 unsightly.^ '''^ The BEB agreed to leave a 50-foot- wide strip of woods between the road and 

 the construction site so as to obstruct the facilities from view. 



Gen. Kingman had left the BEB in October 1945, after serving 4 years as an able and 

 foresighted leader. By that time too, much of the wartime civilian personnel had begun to 

 disband, and by January 1946, the BEB staff had been reduced to approximately 

 20 people.^** Thus, with the expectation of increased research responsibilities, the BEB 

 began to gradually acquire new skilled people to undertake the work. For example, 

 Joseph M. Caldwell, who had been with the Strategic Intelligence Division, Office of the 

 Chief of Engineers, during the war and had worked quite closely with the BEB, joined the 

 Board staff in April 1946. Caldwell played a leading role in the development of the agency's 

 research program. In the same year came Donald F. Horton and Albert C. Rayner, both of 

 whom became largely involved in the work associated with the beach erosion reports. Figure 

 39 is a picture of the BEB staff in the fall of 1946. Other personnel who joined the BEB 

 staff between 1946 and 1951 were: William J. Herron, Jr., Ralph L. Rector, George M. 

 Watts, Thorndike Saville, Jr., and Rudolph P. Savage. It was also during this same period 

 that Richard O. Eaton returned to the BEB staff. Since his departure from the agency some 

 10 years earlier, Eaton had served in tlie military and then resumed his work on coastal 

 problems, first with' the Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District and after 1946 with the 

 Corps' South Pacific Division Office in San Francisco. These men were to be key figures in 

 the BEB's program in the years ahead. 



To house the anticipated increase in staff which, by June 30, 1947, numbered about 35, a 

 second wing was added to the BEB office building. The agency's own support personnel were 

 largely responsible for the construction of this addition which was buUt in 1948-49. 

 Figures 40, 41, and 42 show this construction in its various stages of completion. The 

 dawnstairs section of the wing provided new laboratory space, which was soon equipped 

 with a much-needed third indoor wave tank measuring 96 feet long, 1.5 feet wide, and 

 2 feet deep. 



60 



