of various coastal or protective structures. Chapter 7, "Structural Design — 

 Physical Factors," considers the effects of environmental forces on the design 

 of protective works. Chapter 8, "Engineering Analysis — Case Study," presents 

 a series of calculations for the preliminary design of a hypothetical struc- 

 ture. Each chapter includes a listing of bibliographic sources. 



The SPM concludes with four supporting appendixes. Appendix A is a glos- 

 sary of coastal engineering terms used. Appendix B lists and defines the 

 symbols used. Appendix C is a collection of miscellaneous tables and plates 

 that supplement the material in the chapters, and Appendix D is the subject 

 index. 



II. THE COASTAL AREA 



In any discussion on engineering, an agreement on the meaning of terms is 

 necessary before effective communication can occur. Since the varied meanings 

 of coastal engineering terms used over the years have complicated dialogue, 

 the glossary in Appendix A has been assembled to establish a common vocabulary 

 for the SPM. Figure 1-1 provides a visual definition of the terms discussed 

 in this chapter. 



Figure 1-1. Visual definition of terms describing a 

 typical beach profile. 



Any overview of the coastal area quickly reveals a wide variability of 

 coastal landforms. The "Report on the National Shoreline Study" (U.S. Army, 

 Corps of Engineers, 1971) indicates that of the total 135,550 kilometers 

 (84,240 miles) of U.S. shoreline, 55,550 kilometers (34,520 miles) (41 per- 

 cent) is exposed shoreline and 80,000 kilometers (49,720 miles) (59 percent) 

 is sheltered shoreline (i.e., in bays, estuaries, and lagoons). About 33,000 

 kilometers (20,500 miles) of the shoreline (or 24 percent of the total) is 

 eroding. Of the total length of shoreline, exclusive of Alaska (59,450 



1-2 



