FIR APPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS
PURPOSE:
To describe the functional applications, limitations, and the
general design concepts of bulkheads.
This note is intended to provide a
brief, general discussion of bulkheads for Corps personnel who do not have
a background in the functional design of coastal structures, and to provide
useful information for answering inquiries from the general public con-
cerning the construction and use of bulkheads.
FUNCTIONAL APPLICATIONS:
The primary purpose of a bulkhead is to retain
or prevent sliding of the land, with the secondary purpose being to afford
the upland protection from wave action.
Bulkheads are normally vertical
walls, either piling or gravity-type structures, which are not generally
exposed to severe wave action.
Bulkheads are used where one or more of
the following conditions applies:
1.
Wave exposure, and the resulting scour of the fronting beach, occurs
infrequently.
Loss of the fronting beach is an acceptable trade-off
to protect the
2.
uplands behind it.
The shoreline has a steep bottom profile and is already lacking any
3.
beach.
The toe of the bulkhead will always be submerged.
4.
Condition 1 occurs when a bulkhead retains backshore property high enough
on the beach that it is exposed to waves only when severe storm surges
occur. Condition 2 depends on the value of the protected property as
compared to the value of the lost beach, while Condition 3 may occur
Condition 4 applies to reclamation
along the base of coastal bluffs.
work where fill is being extended into submerged areas, and to harbor con-
struction where a depth of water adequate for the mooring of boats must
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center, Kingman Building, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060
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