sites along the east coast into tlie early 1950's, but these later operations were usually 

 associated with the installation and maintenance of wave gages. As a result of this 

 alteration of function, the BEB began to distribute much of its field equipment to those 

 Corps Districts where it was needed most, particularly those in New York and Los Angeles. 

 The last DUKW was transferred about 1960. 



Another integral part of tlie BEB's increased effort to secure greater knowledge 

 concerning shore processes was the agency's sponsored research at various universities and 

 institutions. In a very real way, the BEB had always consulted with members of the 

 academic community, e.g., the early work of Douglas Johnson and O'Brien, among others. 

 However, after World War II, when a greater amount of funding became available for the 

 BEB's now officially recognized research program, it was decided that a more formal policy 

 should be adopted in this regard.^ ^^ Negotiations were begun in 1948, and three contracts 

 for the conduct of investigatory work were let the following year. The first contractors 

 under this arrangement were Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La JoUa, California; the 

 University of California, Berkeley, California; and New York University, New York, New 

 York.^^^ These three were selected because of faculty expertise in coastal matters. The 

 contract program enabled the BEB to supplement its own staff research by utilizing the 

 highly qualified talent available in the academic community. The practice proved most 

 successful and was expanded in the years tliat followed.* 



The BEB also began to enter into contractual arrangements with the U.S. Army Engineer 

 Waterways Experiment Station located at Vicksburg, Mississippi. One of the early 

 collaborative efforts, carried out at Vicksburg was a model study on the effects of 

 uncontrolled tidal inlets on adjacent beaches.^ ^ 



The activation of the BEB's expanded research program had begun with the passage of 

 Public Law 166 in the summer of 1945. Construction of test facilities, organization of the 

 field groups, acquisition of skilled people, and contractual arrangements with universities 

 and institutions were four key steps. The fifth was to decide upon which problems the 

 Board's staff would pursue in its own laboratory. This required a careful evaluation of 

 available funds, equipment, and trained personnel. The first research topics which were thus 

 under investigation by spring of 1947 were: life of steel sheet piling, equilibrium beach 

 profiles, model-scale effects, wave reflection, settling velocities of beach sand, and depth 

 determination by use of the water transparency method.^ ^^ The number of projects 

 increased over the next few years as the program advanced. 



At its December 1949 meeting, the seven-member Board had an extended discussion of 

 the agency's research activities, including accomplishments to date, as well as long-range 

 plans. It tlien adopted the following resolution of commendation: 



*Other institutions which later participated in the BEB's contract program included: The Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College of Texas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Florida, Virginia Institute of 

 Marine Science, University of Miami, and University of Southern Cahfomia. 1^^ 



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