In 1930, the BSMBE Iiad employed Morrough P. O'Brien to make a reconnaissance of 

 the beaches, inlets, and harbors of the Pacific coast from the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the 

 Washington-Canadian border to the Tijuana Slough at the CaUfornia-Mexican border. 

 O'Brien continued tliis field study under the auspices of the new BEB. A seven-volume 

 report on these investigations issued in March 1931 is entitled, "A Report on Sand 

 Movement and Beach Erosion Along the Pacific Coast of the United States." One specific 

 result of this work was the discovery of the existence of a definite relationship between the 

 tidal prism of inlets and estuaries and the flow area.^^ Another was confirmation, by way of 

 observations at Santa Barbara, California, and elsewhere, of the fact that the littoral drift is 

 essentially a stream of sand which moves in a rather narrow belt close to, and generally 

 parallel with, the shore.^^ (In the BEB's 1933 Interim Report, this same concept is referred 

 to as a "river of sand.") 



The durability of certain construction materials used in shore protection structures, 

 especially steel, had been a matter of interest to the BSMBE.^^ The BEB continued 

 investigation on this important topic. At the Board meeting on November 1, 1935, held at 

 the Moriches Coast Guard Station on Long Island, New York, Col. Earl I. Brown, "outlined 

 tlie proposed study of tlie condition of steel sheet piling along the Atlantic and Gulf 

 Coasts."^ ^ Ralph F. Rhodes of the Savannala District, Corps of Engineers, was designated to 

 make this study. Mr. Rhodes' report, issued on July 13, 1936, covered II localities— 7 on 

 the east coast of Florida and 4 on that State's west coast. He included numerous photos in 

 his study, showing conditions of the material at the various sites. In the years that followed, 

 the BEB staff continued to work on this important subject, resulting in several additional 

 reports. 



The adoption of a uniform terminology for coastal engineering was another early 

 undertaking of the BEB. Col. Brown first brought this matter to the Board's attention at a 

 meeting in September 1931. When the BEB published its Interim Report in April 1933, it 

 included a short glossary of terms, as did the first manual. Manual of Procedure in Beach 

 Erosion Studies, published in 1938. In the years that followed, the BEB continued and 

 expanded this work on coastal terminology. 



a. The BEB Study of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Although not the first site to receive 

 the BEB's attention. Fort Fisher, located 16 mUes south of Wilmington, North CaroUna, is a 

 good example to discuss here for several reasons. First of aU, this study resulted in the BEB's 

 first Congressional Document No. 204, 72d Congress, 1st session, dated December 29, 1931. 

 As such, it caught the attention of the National Research Council and was mentioned in 

 their Annual Report for 1931-1932: 



"Attention is directed to House of Representatives' Document No. 204, of the 

 Seventy- second Congress, First Session, containing a report on investigations of 

 beach erosion at Fort Fisher, North Carohna, made by the Beach Erosion Board 

 of the United States Army Engineers, in cooperation with the North Carolina 



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