COASTAL AND INLET PROCESSES NUMERICAL MODELING SYSTEM FOR 

 OREGON INLET, NORTH CAROLINA 



PART I: INTRODUCTION 



Background 



1. Oregon Inlet is a large inlet through the Outer Banks barrier island 

 system of North Carolina. It is located about 85 miles* south of Cape Henry, 

 Virginia, and about 40 miles north of Cape Hatteras in Dare County, North 

 Carolina (Figure 1). The inlet is the only existing breach in the barrier 

 island system of North Carolina between the Virginia-North Carolina state line 

 and Cape Hatteras. The shorelines immediately north of Oregon Inlet comprise 

 a portion of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Areas, and the 

 shorelines immediately south are administered by the US Fish and Wildlife 

 Service as the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge. 



2. The Manteo (Shallowbag) Bay, North Carolina, project was authorized 

 by Congress in 1970 and included provisions for the stabilization of Oregon 

 Inlet with dual jetties and the deepening of the ocean bar channel to 20 ft. 

 In addition, there were provisions for bypassing across the inlet sand inter- 

 cepted by the jetties. 



Purpose 



3. The purpose of this study was to develop a set of numerical models 

 called Coastal and Inlet Processes (CIP) Numerical Modeling System to simulate 

 coastal and inlet processes in the vicinity of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. 

 The models would be required to handle wave, current, and sediment transport 

 processes of importance in the area and be computationally efficient enough to 

 allow simulations of practical engineering utility. 



* A table of factors for converting non-SI to SI (metric) units is presented 

 on page 5 . 



