these three studies contain is selectively summarized here so that the reader 

 can understand the modeling procedures in context. Most of the background 

 material in this chapter was derived from the three studies. 



343. Maintenance of a stable beach in a coastal environment such as at 

 Lorain would require placement of fill and periodic renourishment. However, a 

 small beach fill would be rapidly depleted by longshore transport, suggesting 

 that the constructed beach should be enclosed by groins. Groins will have 

 minor impact on the neighboring shore, since there is effectively no sand 

 moving along the coast and no neighboring beaches to protect. The cross -shore 

 component of sand transport must also be considered. The wave climate in the 

 Great Lakes is dominated by short-period high waves generated over narrow 

 fetches by frequent small storms. The resultant steep storm waves tend to 

 transport sand offshore, and there is no completely compensating counterpart 

 of persistent long-period swell waves of summer which tend to transport sand 

 onshore, as is the case on an open coast facing an unlimited ocean fetch. 

 Since the coast is deficient in sediment, sand moved offshore tends to 

 disperse and does not return to the original location. It is logical to think 

 of protecting the fill with detached breakwaters to reduce wave energy 

 arriving to the beach and to prevent sand from moving offshore. 



344. Such a project was constructed at Lakeview Park in October 1977 

 (Walker, Clark, and Pope 1980; Pope and Rowen 1983) and was the first detached 

 breakwater system specifically built in the United States to stabilize a 

 recreational beach (Dally and Pope 1986). Figure 38 is an aerial photograph 

 of the site. 



345. The net direction of regional longshore sand transport along this 

 coast tends to be from east to west, as may be inferred from the lengths of 

 fetches in Figure 37, with an annual potential rate estimated to be about 

 60,000 cu yd. However, due to sheltering of easterly waves by the Lorain 

 Harbor breakwaters, the potential net transport rate at Lakeview Park is from 

 west to east at an estimated 21,500 cu yd per year, but with an actual 

 transport rate of only 5,000 to 8,000 cu yd per year due to lack of sediment. 

 Because of the limited natural supply of beach sand, the coast has suffered 

 from chronic erosion, and, for portions of the unprotected coastline, erosion 



151 



