Book Description

Persistent and devastating erosion of the beaches south of the Oceanside, California, Harbor and Del Mar Boat Basin, with an accompanying accretion of sand in the harbor and entrance channel, has been a continuing critical problem since the construction of the Del Mar Boat Basin and the protective breakwaters. In order to eliminate these problems, certain engineering works of improvement have been proposed, among which are additional breakwater systems, beach fill, and sand by-passing procedures. Congress has accepted Federal responsibility for erosion control at Oceanside, based on the opinion that the longshore littoral transport of material in the surf zone has a net southerly direction. Because of conflicting conclusions regarding both the volume and direction of transport, the U.S. Army Engineer District, Los Angeles, requested that the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) perform an independent analysis using the latest ocean wave statistical data as input to ascertain quantitatively the rate of longshore transport in this region. It was determined that approximately 800,000 cu yd gross, 1,200,000 cu yd gross, and 1,900,000 cu yd gross of material are moving at Las Flores, Oceanside, and Encinitas, respectively, on an annual average basis. Also, an estimated 100,000 cu yd net of littoral material is moving southerly past Oceanside, California, on an annual average basis, with the net volume increasing in a southerly direction south of the vicinity of Oceanside. (Author).