EM 1110-2-1100 (Part V)
31 Jul 2003
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Public access and safety during construction
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Access for people with disabilities
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Interruption of recreation
Cultural resources must also be considered.
Coastal project construction has the potential to severely impact important cultural resources. Project
activities such as offshore sand borrowing can damage or destroy important historical sites related
to the region's maritime history. Shipwrecks, native American Indian, and prehistoric sites are
typically of interest. Investigations by archaeologists to identify cultural resources in the project area
provide data necessary to evaluate site significance and potential project impact. Close coordination
with the state Historic Preservation Office is necessary for compliance with the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966.
The politics surrounding shoreline erosion and measures for mitigation provide a wealth of
fascinating reading material. For example, the Westhampton groin field on the south shore of Long
Island, New York (U.S. Army Engineer District, New York, 1958: Heikoff 1976; Kassner and Black
1983; Nersesian, Kraus, Carson 1992; Spencer and Terchunian 1997; Terchunian 1988) is a classic
example of a political decision that significantly altered the original design. The groin field was built
in two stages, with 11 units constructed in 1964/65 and four more in 1970/71. It was a Corps project
authorized by Congress in 1960. The project area extended from Fire Island Inlet east to Montauk
Point and called for beach fill and groins as needed starting at the west end since the natural, net drift
of sand was from east to west. A winter storm in 1962 breached the weakened barrier island at
Westhampton. Local interests including the Suffolk County government lobbied for and eventually
convinced the Corps to construct the groins in reverse sequence, from east to west. In addition, the
groins were not filled with sand when constructed and construction was stopped in the middle of the
project for political reasons. The result was a massive sand trap along Westhampton that starved the
downdrift (westerly) beaches. The interruption of natural sand transport by Shinnecock and
Moriches Inlet and the Westhampton Groin Field has accelerated erosion on Fire Island at the west
end of the system (Kana 1999). A lawsuit by Fire Island property owners has resulted against the
Corps (see Spencer and Terchunian 1997 for more details and reference). The legal constraint has
long been a factor in coastal, shore protection design.
(c) Legal (laws). Congress, through passage of the biannual Water Resources Development Acts
(WRDA), authorizes studies and funds construction of Corps projects. Sections of this law also include
special investigations and establish cost-sharing formulas between the Federal government, state and local
interests. For example, in the 1998 WRDA, the cost-sharing law was changed to 50 percent Federal and
50 percent from local/state interest.1 As a result, some states have passed laws and statues to provide an
annual source of funding for the increased cost of participation in Federally-authorized projects.
The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) was passed in 1982 to minimize loss of life, damage to
fish, wildlife and natural resources, and wasteful expenditures of Federal revenues on Atlantic Ocean
and Gulf of Mexico barrier beaches. The goal is to restrict all Federal government expenditures and
assistance that aid development on the coastal barriers. For example, the CBRA relies on the
National Flood Insurance Program to discourage building by prohibiting sale of Federal flood
insurance in areas covered by the act. The CBRA does permit Federal funding for shoreline
1
Previously, the formula was 65 percent Federal, 35 percent state/local.
V-3-16
Shore Protection Projects
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