c. Discharge Line . See Section 5.521-b. 



5,523 Land-Based Vehicles . Local site conditions may favor the use of 

 wheeled vehicles for bypassing operations. Typical factors to be consid- 

 ered and evaluated would be the existence or provision of adequate road- 

 ways and bridges, accessibility to the impounding zone by land-based 

 equipment, the volume of material to be bypassed and the time required 

 to transport the material. Factors involved in locating deposition areas 

 are also the same as discussed in Section 5.521-b« 



5.53 LEGAL ASPECTS 



The legal consequences stemming from any considered plan of improve- 

 ment are many and complex. Legal problems will vary dependent upon the 

 physical solution employed as well as the jurisdiction in which construction 

 is to occur. The complexities of the legal problems are due not so much to 

 the fact that legal precedent will differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, 

 but rather from the application of any given factual setting to a particular 

 body of law. It should also be noted that insofar as the Federal Govern- 

 ment is concerned, liability for personal or property damage will be deter- 

 mined by reference to the Federal Tort Claims Act. 



IVhere there is an accumulation at an inlet, whether due to an exist- 

 ing jetty system or as a result of natural action, and where it is desir- 

 able to transfer some of that material to the downdrift beach by whatever 

 method is most feasible, it does not follow that any agency - Federal, 

 State or local - has the right to make the transfer. The accreted land 

 is not necessarily in the public domain. In at least one case in the State 

 of New Jersey, for example, it was decided that an accumulation (although 

 clearly due to an existing inlet jetty system) was owned by the holder of 

 the title to the adjacent upland. The court stated that "gradual and im- 

 perceptible accretions belong to the upland owners though they may have 

 been induced by artificial structures." 



The phrase "gradual and imperceptible accretions" is open to legal 

 determination since it would be unusual for one to stand on a beach and 

 clearly see an accretion taking place. Accretion might be detected by 

 surveys at intervals of a month or more. Thus, any agency contemplating 

 bypassing must consult the local legal precedent. 



At an inlet employing a weir jetty and a deposition basin, updrift 

 accretion may be uncertain. If the weir so interferes with littoral trans- 

 port that it causes the beach initially to fill to the elevation of the 

 top of the weir, it is conceivable that there will be a gradual advance 

 of beach elevations well above the elevation of the weir. This will cause 

 movement of material over the weir to decrease, and there will be accre- 

 tion for some distance updrift of the jetty with consequent legal ques- 

 tions concerning ownership. As impairment of movement over the weir 

 reduces effectiveness of bypassing, it will be desirable to take steps to 

 restore the efficiency of the weir. Such action will inevitably result 

 in loss of updrift accretions, and again legal considerations may arise. 



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