navigation. Both Boards would then have to review this report, but instances of this kind 

 were few. However, after the hurricane work became a responsibiUty of the Corps of 

 Engineers, the need for both the BEB and the BERH to review the same reports became 

 increasingly frequent. This dual review requirement resulted from tlie fact that shore 

 protection became more and more an integral part of projects for hurricane protection. 

 Furthermore, while the BERH reviewed that section of reports which focused on 

 hurricane-related proposals, the BEB was legislatively assigned the review responsibiUty in 

 regard to shore protection. The ramifications of this development will be discussed later. 



e. New Techniques in Shore Protection. Through World War H, the main approach to 

 the beach erosion problem was structural.* That is, if beach erosion had become a problem 

 at a valuable resort, structures of one kind or another would generally be built in an effort 

 to impede the erosion and protect tlie shoreUne. The object of many of these early 

 structures was to attempt, in some way, to lessen tlie impact of the waves on the beach 

 and/or to prevent sand losses. These structures (seawalls, revetments, bulkheads, groins, or 

 breakwaters) met with varying degrees of success. By the 1920's and 1930's, they had 

 proliferated along certain resort sections of the Nation's coasthne, especially the New Jersey 

 shore, to such an extent that these structures actually impeded the recreational use of the 

 beaches they were built to protect^ ^^ (Figs. 51, 52, and 53). 



In some instances, structures built along the coastline for navigation purposes were the 

 primary cause of a downdrift beach erosion problem. This development was associated in 

 most cases with jetties. As was stated earlier, the purpose of jetty construction was usually 

 to maintain a navigable channel at an inlet so that boats of a given size could pass through 

 safely. The effects of such structures on adjacent shorelines have also been discussed 

 previously. 



As a result of World War II, technology had taken a giant stride forward. Machines for 

 altering the physical features of the landscape were now much bigger; power-driven 

 equipment enabled man to handle quantities of rock and earth in a time frame never before 

 thought possible; improved construction materials were available. Based on these 

 considerations, one might expect that many of the less substantial shore protection 

 structures built before the war would have been replaced with larger and stronger structures. 

 Generally speaking, however, this was not the case. The main reason was that an important 

 change in thinking had evolved. 



Rather than using the traditional coastal structures of the past, which generally worked 

 against the forces of the ocean waves, it was increasingly realized that, in many situations, 

 results would be more successful if techniques were used which worked with these forces. 

 This line of thought placed emphasis on the beach itself and on that vital commodity, sand. 

 It was found that beaches were more effective as dissipators of wave energy than were fixed 

 structures.^ ^^ Additionally, beaches were also more desirable from the esthetic as well as 

 recreational point of view. 



*The term structural here is used in its purest sense, i.e., it refers to "fixed" coastal structures whicli have been built 

 by man. 



79 



