In keeping with its designated raison d'etre, the Board authorized a number of field 

 studies. The purpose of these efforts was to help overcome the lack of basic data on coastal 

 phenomena. Douglas Johnson prepared the first plan for these field studies, which included 

 some 30 different experiments.^^ 



Two field sites were set up along the coast of New Jersey— one at Long Branch and the 

 other at Seaside Heights. These locations were selected because they met the experimental 

 requirements for long, straight sections of beach, uninfluenced by tidal currents.* 

 Morrough P. O'Brien, then Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University 

 of California, Berkeley,^** and 1st Lt. Leland H. Hewitt were placed in charge of these 

 projects. The fieldwork suggested by Johnson and agreed upon by the BSMBE was begun in 

 May 1929 and extended through September 1930. This program included measurements of 

 waves, winds, currents, tides, beach profiles, sand samples, and tracer studies. It was during 

 these experiments that the current velocity meter designed by George B. Pegram of 

 Columbia University was first used.*^ (See Fig. 5.) Also, a catalog of the groins and other 

 similar structures between Sandy Hook and Cape May was started. Surveys were made 

 around a number of these structures to provide a base line for relating subsequent shoreUne 

 changes to waves and winds. 



Members of the first field party were mostly engineering students seeking work during 

 the summer months. WiUing to tackle any assignment, they engaged in such activities as: 

 Taking soundings using stadia boards in 10 feet of water; observing sand movement by 

 sitting on the bottom wearing a diving helmet, with air pumped from above; sampUng sand 

 in suspension in the surf zone; and others. (See Fig. 6.) To quote O'Brien, "They were 

 young, fearless, and motivated and much was done.' 



Semimontlily progress reports of these basic research activities were prepared and sent to 

 the BSMBE for its review. This fieldwork provided much of the information which was later 

 incorporated into the first research report of the BEB,^^ to be discussed subsequently. 

 Moreover, these studies were among the first Federal program of research on the dynamics 

 of coastal processes to be conducted in this country, and helped place the United States 

 in the forefront of what was to become a field of worldwide importance— coastal 

 engineering. 



Another part of the research performed under the auspices of the BSMBE was a study of 

 sand origins along the New Jersey and south Long Island shores. This was done under 

 contract by R. J. Colony, a professor in the Department of Geology and Mineralogy, 

 Columbia University. His report, submitted in December 1930, estabhshed findings which 

 stiU hold true today.* ^ 



BSMBE members also recognized the need for an assemblage of the literature pertaining 

 to coastal matters, a further reflection of the pioneering stage which the field was in at that 

 time. Henry E. Haferkorn, Ubrarian at the U.S. Army Engineer School, Fort Humphreys 

 *It was later discovered that the Seaside Heights location was affected by a shipwreck offshore. 



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