Mr. ROBERTS. If there are no further questions, we will proceed to the next project.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA.

Colonel IRVING. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, this report concerns improvement of the shores of Virginia Beach, immediately east of Norfolk, Va.

Protective measures are needed to cope with the heavy damages from storms which affect the residential and commercial properties of the beach area. The severe Northeast storm of March 1962, for example, caused damages of about $8.8 million.

Structural alternatives for the recommended project consist of beaches of varying dimensions, jetties, and breakwaters. Nonstructural alternatives consist of flood plain management, zoning ordinances, building codes, and flood proofing.

Environmental impacts of the structural alternatives would vary with the width and height of the beachfill. Nonstructural alternatives would not affect the environment to any extent.

Although they possess the potential for resolving part of the flood problems at minimum environmental expense, they would not be sufficient to solve the flood problems.

We recommend improvements consisting of a 100-foot-wide and 10foot-high beach with a section of sheet pile wall, stone riprap, concrete cap, and the raising and strengthening of existing dunes along 6 miles of the Atlantic Coast, between Rudee Inlet and 89th Street.

This will provide the necessary protection against damages with a minimum of deleterious effects on the environment.

The estimated cost of the project is $17,010,000, of which $11,179,000 would be Federal.

Use of the currently prescribed interest rate of 512 percent would give a benefit-cost ratio of 2.0.

Local cooperation consists of providing without cost to the United States all lands, easements, and rights-of-way, including borrow areas, necessary for construction of the improvements, at a presently estimated cost of $63,000; accomplishing without cost to the United States all relocations and alterations of buildings, streets, storm drains, utilities, and other structures and improvements made necessary by the construction, excluding facilities necessary for the normal interception and disposal of local interior drainage at the line of protection; providing a cash contribution for the beach erosion control, presently estimated at $1,764,000, which is equal to 50 percent of the construction cost allocated to this function exclusive of lands, easements, rights-ofway, relocations, and alterations, with the allocation to be based on conditions existing at the time of construction and the percentage to be based on shore ownership and use then existing; providing a cash contribution for hurricane and tidal flooding protection, presently estimated at $4,004,000, equal to 30 percent of the first cost allocated to these functions, less a credit for the value of lands, easements, rightsof-way, relocations, and alterations with the allocation to be based on conditions existing at the time of construction; holding and saving the United States free from damages due to the construction works; maintain and operate all the works and undertake periodic beach nourishment after completion in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army; providing without cost to the United States appropriate access and facilities, including parking and sanitation, necessary for realization of the public benefits upon which Federal participation is based, and administering and maintaining the beach for continued public use during the project life; adopting appropriate ordinances or provide other means to insure the preservation of the beach fill areas and the dunes; controlling water pollution to the extent necessary to safeguard the health of bathers; and at least annually informing interests affected that the project will not provide complete protection from a hurricane tide level higher in elevation than

10 feet above mean sea level, which is approximately 111⁄2 feet higher than the record tide of the August 1933 hurricane.

Local interests have indicated their willingness to furnish all items of local cooperation required.

Construction and maintenance of the proposed structural improvements between Rudee Inlet and 89th Street would improve the recreational use of the beach by enlarging and preserving its surface.

The sheet pile wall will be made visually pleasing. Beautification measures will include an appropriate design of the concrete cap, consideration of pigmented concrete and/or decorative form work, a decorative, functional type of handrailing, and esthetically pleasing walkways and ramps.

Nonstructural protective measures which should be undertaken along the shoreline in the study area would promote damage reduction while preserving and enhancing the environmental qualities of the area.

There will be a need for 2.5 million cubic yards of sand to construct the project and 133,000 cubic yards annually for maintenance, in addition to the 163.000 cubic yards which are annually removed from a borrow site near Rudee Inlet and placed on the beach under the existing Federal nourishment project.

Possible sources of suitable material include the higher lands inshore of Back Bay, the Chesapeake Bay bottoms off the Lynnhaven River, and the potential supply from the ocean bottom offshore.

It is reasonable to assume that extraction of such large quantities of material would produce environmental changes. Such changes would be more visually noticeable in connection with inshore extraction of land. However, rehabilitation and landscaping of these areas could provide pleasant sites for picnicking and other leisure time pursuits.

The nearshore borrow areas in the Chesapeake Bay off Lynnhaven Inlet are part of a highly significant crab wintering ground as well as a relatively important finfish zone, both of which might be temporarily affected by dredging operations.

Accordingly, the timing and methods of sand extraction at any area would be coordinated with the appropriate Federal and State agencies before a borrow source is selected and during project construction to minimize any adverse effects.

The Commonwealth of Virginia and the interested Federal agencies, consisting of the Departments of the Interior: Commerce; Health, Education, and Welfare; and Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, favor the report which is now with the Congress. The report has been submitted to the Congress. The final environmental impact statement was filed with the Council on Environmental Quality on September 19, 1972.

The only issue at present is the location of sand for project construction and subsequent maintenance. A detailed study will be made as part of the post authorization studies along with an environmental impact statement on the selected area or areas.

This concludes my statement. Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ROBERTS. Any questions, Mr. Dorn?

Mr. DORN. No questions.

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Hammerschmidt?

Mr. HAMMERSCHMIDT. No questions, Mr. Chairman.