To appear: Proceedings 2002 National Conference on Beach Preservation Technology, FSBPA.
FEDERAL INLETS DATABASE
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Coastal Inlets Research
Abstract:
Program (CIRP) is developing a database of Federal Inlets to consolidate inlet
characteristics and statistics in a conveniently accessible form and to identify
information gaps. The Federal Inlets Database covers 153 inlets and entrances
in the continental United States and Alaska that are Federally maintained, and
it is a detailed subset of a larger database being compiled for more than 500
inlets of the United States. This paper describes the background of the
Federal Inlets Database and its content. It also identifies selected research
areas being pursued by the CIRP in completing and expanding the database.
This paper introduces the Federal Inlets Database as a coastal engineering
resource, and it requests assistance from the coastal engineering community to
complete the database by providing local and unpublished knowledge of
specific inlets in the United States.
INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Coastal Inlets Research Program (CIRP) is
developing a database of Federal Inlets to consolidate inlet characteristics and statistics in
a conveniently accessible form and to identify information gaps. The Federal Inlets
Database contains information compiled for 153 Federally maintained inlets and
entrances in the continental United States and Alaska. For the CIRP mission, an inlet or
entrance is defined as a maintained channel connecting an ocean or lake to a smaller
water body and which experiences long-period water motion by tide or seiching, together
with a wave-induced longshore current. Inlet channels contribute to economic vitality as
commercial navigational waterways, are part of the military infrastructure of the nation,
and are key components of the estuarine ecosystem. The Corps of Engineers maintains
inlet navigability by dredging channels and through implementation and maintenance of
controlling structures. Understanding the physical processes occurring at these inlets and
entrances is required for predicting the evolution of the inlet and adjacent beaches, both
under natural conditions and in response to engineering activities such as routine channel
maintenance, channel deepening, and mining of ebb- and flood-tidal shoals.
The Federal Inlets Database presented here is in a developmental stage. Collection of
additional data is necessary to fully populate it. The Federal Inlets Database will
1) Applied Technology and Management, Inc., 2770 NW 43rd Street, Suite B, Gainesville, FL
32606.
2) U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory,
3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199. .
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