inlet entered the Gulf at least 2 miles from its current location. From 1871 to 

 1929, East Pass migrated approximately 2,500 ft westward. In addition, 

 progressive erosion occurred at Moreno Point. These two mechanisms 

 effectively bent the channel and created a much less efficient hydraulic state. 



In April 1928, severe storms and high tides caused a breach in a low narrow 

 portion of Santa Rosa Island at about the location of the present inlet. This 

 breach soon shoaled and the original inlet remained open. In 1929, another 

 heavy rainstorm flooded the Choctawhatchee Bay. High-water marks indicated 

 that water levels had risen to as much as 5.4 ft above mean low water (mlw). 

 The local inhabitants dug a pilot channel along the 1928 breach to allow the high 

 waters of the bay to rush into the Gulf (U.S. Engineer Office 1939). Because the 

 new channel provided a more direct route to the Gulf, it became more 

 hydrauhcally efficient. As such, it soon captured the tidal flow in and out of the 

 bay and remained open. 



Following the breach, changes in the shoreline occurred rapidly. By 1935, 

 the new inlet had grown to 2,500 ft wide. The old inlet soon shoaled and, by 

 1938, completely closed. The east side of the new inlet had receded 500 ft 

 eastward from its original 1929 position (U.S. Engineer Office 1939). In 

 addition, by 193 1, a sand spit (later named Norriego Point) had formed along the 

 eastern edge of the inlet and stretched northward to a point within 500 ft of 

 Moreno Point. The reduced depth between the spit and the mainland required 

 dredging approximately 20,000 cu yd of material to create a channel (hereafter 

 referred to as Old Pass) 6 by 100 ft to connect Old Pass Lagoon to East Pass. 

 This was the first in a long history of dredging projects at East Pass. 



Navigation through the newly formed East Pass proved perilous for small 

 vessels. The crescentic bar at the outermost edge of the ebb-tidal shoal had a 

 history of shifting significantly during storms. In addition, Government 

 acquisition of Valpariso Airport, which would later become Eglin Air Force 

 Base, meant that channels through the pass required modification and mainten- 

 ance to allow passage of military vessels. Before 1945, dredging occurred 

 periodically to maintain a 6- by 100-ft channel through East Pass. In June 1945, 

 the Air Force paid the USACE to dredge a channel 12 ft deep and 1 80 ft wide 

 through East Pass (U.S. Congress, House 1950). In 1951, Congress authorized 

 the dredging of a 6- by 100-ft channel extending from the east end of the U.S. 

 Highway 98 bridge through Old Pass into Old Pass Lagoon. These channel 

 dimensions continue to the present. The rapidly shoaling East Pass channel 

 quickly returns to about 7 or 8 ft deep at mlw. Consequently, maintenance 

 dredging must be continuously scheduled. 



To improve the inlet's navigational safety and to reduce annual maintenance 

 costs, the 1963 USACE survey report recommended constructing jetties to 

 protect the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. The report also recommended a 

 substantial amount of dredging to coincide with jetty construction. The total 

 estimated cost of the project was $1.87 million. Jetty construction and dredging 

 began in December 1967 and ended in January 1969. The jetties featured a 

 converging design constructed to the -6-ft mlw contour that ends with an opening 

 1,000 ft across (Mobile District 1967). A 1,000-ft weir was placed in the west 

 jetty near the landward end to allow littoral drift to enter a deposition basin on 

 the opposite (east) side of the weir. Within the shelter of the jetties, a dredge 



Chapter 1 Background and Problem Statement 



