Admiral COLBERT. Exactly. They are the research work and basic studies. Then you get into an individual area and you find out from your basic work what you can apply to a specific locality. I am sure that will apply to the beaches of Oregon. Senator CORDON. How long have these basic studies been going on? Colonel ALLEN. The development studies were authorized in 1946. Admiral COLBERT. In 1946 under Public Law 166 of the 79th Congress, 1st session. Senator CORDON. What is the fact as to where one would turn to get the information that has resulted from these studies? Is it available! Admiral COLBERT. From the Beach Erosion Board. Senator CORDON. Is it printed? Admiral COLBERT. Yes, sir. Senator CORDON. How long do you think you will have to continue these studies? Admiral COLBERT. I am not in position to answer that question. I think I would like to refer that to Colonel Allen of the Board. I do not have that. Senator CORDON. Is there anything else, Senator? Senator ELLENDER. I think Colonel Allen answered that question Friday. Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir. While it is difficult to predict an end to any type of research, we feel confidently that a 5-year level of expenditures such as we have experienced over the last 5 years will permit the Beach Erosion Board to begin to taper off its activities. AVAILABILITY OF MATERIAL With respect to your first question as to where this material is available, the Beach Erosion Board periodically publishes that information in technical reports and manuals, which are made available to practicing engineers, to agencies which are faced with beach erosion problems. They can take these manuals and apply them to their specific problem without further reference to the Federal Government. Senator CORDON. What do you mean for 5 years past? This has been going on for 8 years, has it not? Colonel ALLEN. I was using the last 5 years as a base of reference for our appropriations. Senator CORDON. What did you do for 3 years prior to that, nothing! Colonel ALLEN. We did considerable work in developing a facility. You will recall in 1946 there was no agency in the Federal Government designed, equipped, or staffed to accomplish anything with respect to beach erosion. It took some time to develop a plant. We now have a plant which while certainly not pretentious is, for its purpose, second to none anywhere. I think the last 5 years will give a truer index as to the efficiency and performance of the Board because at that time we had a plant and we were able to procure and now have qualified personnel. Senator CORDON. You say a plant? Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir. Senator CORDON. You mean by that equipped, experienced personnel or do you mean physical plant? Colonel ALLEN. I mean a physical plant as well as the trained personnel. Senator CORDON. Where do you have your plant? Colonel ALLEN. In Northwest Washington near the Dalecarlia Reservoir. We will be happy to have any members of the committee visit us and see what work is going on. Senator CORDON. You mean Northwest Washington, D. C., has a plant to determine problems of beach erosion? Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir. Senator CORDON. Do you have any beach there? Colonel ALLEN. We have a wave tank 635 feet long which can, when completed, produce a 6-foot wave. It is 20 feet deep. We can put beaches into it. We have a test basin into which we can put tides and sand and determine the effects of tides and drift on the various beaches. We have indoor tanks in which we can put beaches. Senator CORDON. Do you really believe that will give you any answer to the manifold, multitudinous problems that are created by the ebb and flow and the winds upon the waters of the ocean? Colonel ALLEN. I certainly think we are further ahead than we were in 1946. Senator CORDON. I would hope so. We have been spending a lot of money. I would like to have something for it. It has been my experience that when you get into this game of fooling with Old Man Ocean it is trial and error and the trial and error has to be applied to each project. It is the trial and error that is expensive and we have eliminated that in recent projects. I would like to go into that with you in detail and present a few specific projects. Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir. Senator ELLENDER. Í guess you can compare your plant to the plant put up to test airplanes in a small way. Colonel ALLEN. It is a very modest facility. Senator ELLENDER. If it were not for that and if we tried outdoors, we might spend millions of dollars for information we could obtain from these plants which were built for that purpose. Colonel ALLEN. Millions of dollars have been spent for ineffective and uneconomic beach construction. It is through this modest investment for a plant where they can be tested in a model before they are put in the prototype that we have made progress in this particular field. AMOUNT SPENT ON PLANT Senator CORDON. How much money is spent on the plant? Colonel ALLEN. Over the past 8 years I would estimate-and this figure is subject to check-approximately $800,000. Senator CORDON. That is capital investment? Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir. Senator CORDON. What do you have? Colonel ALLEN. We have a number of indoor tanks whereby we can produce waves with varying periods, waves of varying heights, in which various beach slopes and beach materials can be placed to test a particular equilibrium profile of that characteristic material. We have a large outdoor tank of approximately 200 by 300 feet in size in which waves can be produced of different period and different height to determine the effect of a confused sea rather than a uniform sea on a beach. These wave machines can be so set up that a number of wave trains can be projected on a coastline. USABLE FINDINGS Senator CORDON. Are you prepared to say you have findings that are usable? Colonel ALLEN. I would go so far as to say we have, sir. Senator CORDON. That is not very far, is it? I fully expected an enthusiastic "yes." Have you yet made application of any of those findings to beach erosion? Colonel ALLEN. Yes, sir, we have. I can cite one instance on the west coast of California where right now the shoreline is being protected at an annual expenditure of approximately $2,500 per mile by a process which was never formerly used. The device used before cost in excess of 10 times that amount, an expensive seawall structure. At Santa Barbara, Calif., the material is being taken and pumped from behind a breakwater and pumped over the inlet and allowed to continue its motion downcoast, thereby periodically nourishing the beaches, producing a fine wave energy dissipater and making unnecessary the cost of maintenance of an inexpensive and unsightly seawall. Senator CORDON. That cure, if one may call it that, or alleviation, whatever word you want to apply, was evolved as a result of your studies with this plant out at Delecarlia? Colonel ALLEN. That and the local studies in the problem area. Senator CORDON. That sounds good to me. Colonel ALLEN. Thank you, sir. Senator CORDON. I would like to be able to pinpoint this thing and have something concrete. I have had too many generalities in the last 8 or 9 years and I would like to get the facts. Colonel ALLEN. I thank you for your questions in bringing that out. Admiral COLBERT. I think you mentioned the forces of nature. We know they are tremendous. I think the main purposes of the Board are to find out what those forces are and how we can work with them rather than work in opposition to them because we can never beat nature. In closing, I would like to present this statement as vice president of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association. We endorse the work that has been going on. We hope the committee will see to the restoration of amounts to continue that. Mr. Weber is here, our highway engineer. He has a statement to present. STATEMENT OF HARRISON WEBER, CANAL AND WATERWAYS ENGINEER PREPARED STATEMENT Senator CORDON. Would you like your statement to be printed in the record at this point and you highlight it? Mr. WEBER. I have a statement but I would like to bring out some of the highlights and main points of it. (The statement referred to follows:) Senator WILLIAM S. KNOWLAND, COUNTY OF SUFFOLK, Port Jefferson, N. Y., February 26, 1954. Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR KNOWLAND: Speaking as an engineer who has used the research data furnished by the Beach Erosion Board and who has closely followed the work of this Board for the past 20-odd years since it was formed, it is my sincere opinion that their work is necessary and should be continued. A cut in the appropriation requested of 80 percent which I understand is being considered would practically wipe out the activities of this worthy and useful organization. The United States has thousands of miles of coastline along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, along the gulf coast and along the Great Lakes. Practically all this coastline is being eroded. A large part of these shores are valuable recreational areas whose facilities offer health and happiness to millions of people. There is a real and vital need for information as to the best methods to use to protect our shores from the erosion which is continually destroying more and more property. In my opinion it would be shortsighted and against the public interest to discontinue the work of the Beach Erosion Board, considering the modest amount which is requested to continue this important work. The County of Suffolk, comprising three-fourths of Long Island, participated in a cooperative survey with the Beach Erosion Board from 1941 to 1946. We have been using the recommendations contained in the report which followed this survey in our present beach protection program. This has involved an expenditure of approximately $4 million by the State of New York, County of Suffolk and the various towns since 1946. There is no doubt in my mind that following the recommendations of the Beach Erosion Board has helped us to spend this money wisely and economically. We would now like to initiate another cooperative survey and report with the Beach Erosion Board in order to bring the old survey and study up to date and to guide us in solving our future erosion problems. I earnestly request that this appropriations committee give favorable consideration to the request of the Beach Erosion Board for funds. Very truly yours, HARRISON WEBER, Canal and Waterways Engineer. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. WEBER. I am from Long Island. I am a member of an engineering staff that operates in Suffolk County. It is the department of public works under the supervision of the county superintendent of highways. We are an agency which actually makes use of this research work which is done by the Beach Erosion Board. We have followed the work of this Board very closely and it is my sincere opinion that their work is necessary and should be continued. A cut in the appropriation requested of 80 percent, which I have been informed is the cut, would, I think, practically wipe out the activities of this worthy organization. The United States has thousands of miles of coastline along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the gulf and the Great Lakes. Practically all of this coast is being eroded. Beach erosion is a highly complícated process and it takes a great deal of study to determine just what structure you can build to combat it. In my humble opinion it would be shortsighted and against the public interest to discontinue the work of the Beach Erosion Board, 42592-54-71 considering the modest amount which is requested to continue this important work. Senator ELLENDER. Have you made any study at all of the causes of the erosion on Long Island? Has it increased any in recent years? If so, what, in your opinion, has caused this increase Mr. WEBER. Sometimes it is more and sometimes it is less. It is complicated by the fact we have had two hurricanes. At those times the erosion was very severe. We project out into the ocean like a sore thumb, so to speak, and we seem to catch most of these severe northerly storms. So it is variable. The wind transmits its energy to the waves and the waves transmit it to the beaches. The only thing that resists it is this sandbar. It is remarkable to me that it takes it as well as it does. Senator CORDON. That is where you had the Fire Island problem? Mr. WEBER. I remember that. Senator CORDON. There was money requested and a good tornado came along and did the work for them. Mr. WEBER. After that storm of last November 6 and 7 we had a channel of about 10 feet. Before that it was a little less than that. We do not know how long it will last. Senator CORDON. That is the thing we run into all the way through. We do not know how long it is going to last. Mr. WEBER. We had another one we were opening up artificially. We were within 100 feet of opening it. That November 6 and 7 storm came along and took out the last 100 feet for us. So we were thankful. COOPERATIVE STUDY The County of Suffolk comprises three-fourths of Long Island and was engaged in a cooperative survey with the Beach Erosion Board from 1941 to 1946 when we received a report from them. We have followed the recommendations in this report and our beach erosion protection project since that time. The State and the county and the various towns have spent $4 million since that time. In my opinion, the recommendations of the Beach Erosion Board have certainly helped us to spend that $4 million wisely. If it were not for that, we would have been working on a hit-and-miss proposition. They provided us with some basic information we needed. In some cases we protect our beaches with artificial fill and at other times with groins. It is through the reports and the studies of the Beach Erosion Board that we were able to determine what to do. It has worked out very well. We are the department of public works working under the supervision of the county superintendent of highways. I have a letter which I would like to introduce in the record. Senator CORDON. It will be printed at this point. (The letter referred to follows:) Senator WILLIAM S. KNOWLAND, COUNTY OF SUFFOLK, SUPERINTENDENT OF HIGHWAYS, Port Jefferson, N. Y., February 26, 1954. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR KNOWLAND. I understand that your committee is holding a hearing on Monday, March 1, 1954, to consider the request by the Beach Erosion Board for funds for cooperative beach-erosion studies. |