Preface 



This report summarizes the present state of knowledge on infragravity motions 

 and their significance in coastal engineering. Theoretical and observational studies 

 are presented, most of which have been published elsewhere, however a few studies 

 discussed in Chapter 4 are presented for the first time in this report. This report is 

 motivated, in part, by the need to determine the significance of infragravity waves 

 on coastal erosion and by the desire to improve coastal engineering solutions to 

 problems associated with nearshore processes. Work was performed under the 

 Infragravity Waves in the Nearshore Zone, Work Unit 32430, Coastal Navigation 

 Hydrodynamics Program, authorized by Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers (HQUSACE). Messrs. John H. Lockhart, Jr., John G. Housley, Barry W. 

 Holliday, and John F. C. Sanda were HQUSACE Technical Monitors. Funds were 

 provided through the Coastal Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL), U.S. Army Engineer 

 Waterways Experiment Station (WES), under the program management of Ms. 

 Carolyn Holmes, CHL. Director of CHL during the investigation was Dr. James R. 

 Houston, and Assistant Director was Mr. Charles C. Calhoun, Jr. 



The report was assembled by Mr. Kent Hathaway with considerable help from 

 Ms. Judy Roughton at CHL's Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC, under the 

 direct supervision of Mr. William A. Birkemeier, Chief, FRF, and the general 

 supervision of Mr. Thomas W. Richardson, Chief, Coastal Sediments and 

 Engineering Division, CHL. Analysis of infragravity data and assistance in 

 preparing this document were provided by Dr. Joan Oltman-Shay, Northwest 

 Research Associates, under contract number DACW39-93-0045. Additional 

 assistance in preparing this document was provided by Dr. Peter Howd, University 

 of South Florida, under contract number DACW39-94-K-0047. 



Video images of runup data were processed in cooperation with Dr. Robert A. 

 Holman, Oregon State University, with the help of his staff. Video data were 

 collected with the support of the FRF staff, specifically Mr. Brian Scarborough 

 who helped in surveying, and Ms. Roughton who digitized runup videos. 



At the time of publication of this report, Director of WES was Dr. Robert W. 

 Whalin. Commander was COL Robin R. Cababa, EN. 



The contents of this report are not to be used for advertising, publication, 

 or promotional purposes. Citation of trade names does not constitute an 

 official endorsement or approval of the use of such commercial products. 



