Book Description

In the River and Harbor Act of 1968 (PL 90-483), the Congress gave to the Chief of Engineers special responsibilities for appraising, investigating, and studying the condition of the Nation's shorelines and for developing suitable means for protecting, restoring, and managing them so as to reduce erosion induced damages. This is the report on the study. Other reports - 11 in number - primarily addressed to local and State authorities, complete the National Shoreline Study, and provide the base from which this report is drawn. The reports provide guidelines and broad conceptual plans but are not intended to produce project authorizations. The National Shoreline Study finds 20,500 miles of the ocean and Great Lakes shores of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands undergoing significant erosion. The study further finds that action to halt significant erosion appears justified along 2,700 miles of shore. The cost of constructing suitable protective works for these shores is estimated to be $1.8 billion. The study suggests that priority attention should be given to 190 miles of shores where continued erosion is most likely to endanger life and public safety within the next 5 years. (Author).