Abstract: An energy-dissipating overflow-type dike dividing a body of water into inner and outer zones, comprises an overflow-type dike defining on its upper surface a platform having an average elevation approximating the mean surface of the body of water. A plurality of upstanding wave energy-dissipating elements, each of varying horizontal cross-sectional width, are disposed in spaced relationship on the platform to reduce the potential impact effect of a water overflow on the inner zone by extending the area and period of impact. A plurality of channels, each of varying horizontal cross-sectional width, are defined by and between the elements for dissipating the kinetic energy of water passing therethrough while enabling water flow for basin water renewal in the inner zone.

Abstract: Apparatus for dissipating surface waves to protect floating or fixed structures comprises a floatable carpet formed of floating motor vehicle tires which are horizontally disposed and arranged in rows. Flexible spacers interconnect the tires in such a manner that the floating carpet provides a structure that is stiff in the horizontal direction and flexible in the vertical direction. The individual tires assume zig-zag inclinations to the portions for interconnecting the tires in the upper and lower areas thereof, and inflatable supporting hoses extending between adjacent tires in the areas between the upper and lower spacers.

Abstract: Disclosed is a device for protecting against beach erosion. The device has a supporting platform that rests on the sea bottom, and an upwardly curved surface extending from the platform. In one embodiment the concave side faces incoming waves and the convex side faces the seabed. The upwardly curved surface deflects incoming waves upwardly, thus breaking the major portion of their force before they impact upon the beach. The platform and curved surface together form a wall like a barrier that blocks the path of sand washed from the beach, so as to trap the sand for reclaimation before it migrates so far out to seat to be lost irretrievably. The platform can have extending from it anchoring feet to anchor the device in the seabed. In another embodiment the disposition of these convex and concave surfaces is reversed.

Abstract: Means for improved erosion control comprising a concrete module having a base, two upwardly extending sidewalls, an upwardly extending rearwall, a wave-disrupting ramp extending between the side walls from the base to the rear wall, and holes to aid in lifting and placement of the module and to link adjacent modules where a plurality are used to build a breakwall. A method for controlling erosion due to wave action comprising at least one module, and preferably fastening together a plurality of modules with flexible means thereby causing interference with wave action while permitting the individual modules to conform to wave action and bottom conformation.

Abstract: A compression wall and tension spoke structural system which transfers lateral loads from the sea surface to the sea floor efficiently. The cellular breakwater combines tension piles and concrete fabric forms with oceanwheel structural elements to form cells which are serially placed in tangential contact to produce a breakwater of desired shape and length in shallow water.

Abstract: As civilization progresses people have a desire to build their homes as close as possible to the ocean and other coastal waters. Due primarily to the attraction of the moon, the ocean's shoreline moves regularly between high and low tide elevations, referred to as the foreshore area. Beyond the foreshore area there are successive areas identified as the trough and the bar areas resulting from the turbulence caused as the incoming waves reach the shallower waters as they approach the foreshore area. The tidal movement of the water, coupled with periodic storm surges causes dramatic shifting of the shoreline, frequently with disasterous results. Concerted efforts have been made to overcome this serious condition, but without marked success. We have devised a system whereby erosion can be prevented. We provide an artificial reef positioned in the submarine beach area, an area in the water that is shallow at low tide and is out beyond the foreshore area and the trough and the bar areas.

Abstract: A system and apparatus for protecting a shoreline from erosion, damage, flooding and the like from fluctuations in the water level in various bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, oceans and the like and for quickly and efficiently closing a breach in a levee, dam or other water containment barrier and includes a series of watertight, hollow fabricated structures that can be quickly filled with various materials for retaining the hollow structures in a desired position. The hollow structures are relatively lightweight and can be easily transported to a use site by various transportation modes. The system and apparatus also includes a mat closure device to close gaps between adjacent ends of the hollow structures to provide a continuous barrier.

Abstract: A breakwater comprised of an array of aligned perforated-wall caissons having a slab bottom standing on a pervious rubble base and anchored by its own weight incorporates exceptionally heavy ballasting to ensure stability under attack by large waves, i.e. to that the ratio of maximum horizontal thrust force to downward vertical force is below about 0.46.The immersed wall height is much reduced so that the slab bottom lies below mean sea level about 1.3 to 1.7 times the height of the greatest wave predicted, lessening costs of construction and siting. Efficient energy dissipation function is preserved by placement of augmenting mass below the height of the wave trough and by providing flow passages for jets directed by front wall ducts, avoiding increase of reflection coefficient.

Abstract: A concrete module for at least partial submergence in the surf to dissipate the energy of wave action and to promote the deposition of beach-restoring sand and pebbles comprises a series of passages which converge toward the shore-facing side of the module and terminate in an upwardly-directed opening which deflects the incoming water flow upward to further dissipate the wave energy and to create a reaction force on the module which tends to rotate or tilt it toward the shore. This tendency aids in neutralizing the natural tendency of barriers to rotate toward the sea as a result of sand being scoured out from beneath the seaward side of the barrier as a result of downwardly-deflected incoming wave energy.

Abstract: Apparatus and a method for protecting beaches and shorelands from erosion caused by wave action. The apparatus consists of a system of plural interconnected compartments disposed under the water on the seabed in an array which extends generally parallel to the shoreline of the beach. Each compartment is formed by plural flexible wall portions comprising an open mesh, buoyant material. The wall portions are anchored to the seabed so that they extend in a generally vertical orientation. Anchoring means are provided to enable the wall portions to move towards the beach with incoming waves while precluding those wall portions from moving backwards substantially beyond the vertical orientation with backwash waves, whereupon sand or other particulate material suspended in the water is enabled to drop out of suspension within the compartments during the backwash waves.

Abstract: A beach building block which is formed with a single passageway extending in a vertical inclination therethrough and which presents a solid wall at the rearward side of the block for containment of sand and the like behind the block and thereby build a beach. The blocks are positioned in row parallel to the shoreline, and while they permit the wave to flow through the block, they dissipate the energy of the wave, and they also retard the return flow of the water with the suspended sand, and thus the beach is built behind the block by the deposit of the sand.

Abstract: A movable fixed-type semi-submerged construction includes a plurality of legs each having a spat tank attached to its lower end and sunken to rest on the bottom of the sea and a superstructure supported on the legs. A scouring preventing structure including a cylindrical circumferential wall formed with a large number of holes therethrough is arranged at the lower part of each of the legs so as to encircle the spat tank.

Abstract: An artificial reef which protects the shoreline from erosion is created by placing in the surf zone, in side-by-side relation, reinforced concrete prisms having a gently sloping seaward face provided with parallel, transverse grooves which assist in dissipating wave energy and the release of water-borne sediments while minimizing secondary waves.

Abstract: A portable erosion control device for filtering run-off water. Two substantially vertically disposed side members are arranged substantially orthogonally with respect to two vertically disposed end members. The side members and end members form a box-like framework. The side members include a plurality of openings large enough to permit a flow of water therethrough. Said side members are substantially impervious to the flow of water therethrough. Partition members extend between the end walls of the box-like framework and are spaced with respect to each other to form a plurality of compartments within the box-like framework. Gripping members are positioned on the end members for facilitating the lifting and subsequent positioning of the box-like framework relative to ground level. Filtering material is positioned between the partition members and the side members. The box-like framework includes an open bottom and open top.

Abstract: An erosion control structure having a plurality of undivided flow passages. The structure may be constructed from concrete block bonded together, a single cast module, a plurality of pipes bonded together or other suitable construction materials.

Abstract: This is a wave dissipation caisson made of concrete wherein trapezoidal wing pieces having an appropriate number of holes are fixed in combination to the inside of a box-type frame formed only by angled sections of a framework. The caisson has a permeable structure wherein the waves advancing into the frame are shifted and divided by wing pieces so as for the energy of the waves to be dissipated and is placed on a seabed to be utilized as a revetment and a breakwater.

Abstract: An off-shore reef-like structure for preventing beach erosion. The structure comprises a string of prism-shaped modules placed in side-by-side relation in the surf area along a line defined by a sand bar, for example, where waves normally break. Each module has oppositely inclined front and rear walls adapted to face seaward and landward, respectively. At least one flow control passage extends through the module so as to converge from its front to rear wall openings. Incoming waves flow through the passage in a manner dissipating the wave energy while minimizing the wave impact forces tending to move the module. An opening is provided in the module bottom wall in communication with a through conduit enabling the module to fixedly seat or interlock itself in either sandy or coral-like shoreline areas. The module is uniquely designed to provide a minimal air lifting load for helicopter installation.

Abstract: An erosion-preventing structure for use in strengthening a river bank or in desert reclamation is formed from a stack of toroidal objects such as used vehicle tires. The toroidal objects are disposed in a plurality of relatively offset layers which are held against relative movement and adjacent tires in a layer are secured together.

Abstract: A breakwater, or similar structure, comprising a core of rubble, and an armouring layer overlying said core, said armouring layer being composed of individual armour units of hexagonal outer cross-section arranged in a honeycomb array, each of said armour units having an elongated, concrete body with longitudinal through water-passage means so that the porosity of the exposed face of the armouring layer is solely determined by the ratio of the cross-sectional area of said water passage means to the cross-sectional area of the concrete body.

Abstract: A breakwater which has a rear wall and several front walls to break up the incident waves, the front walls having holes therein to pass the waves, which holes diminish in size from the front wall which takes the initial impact of the wave towards the back wall. In various embodiments the breakwater may have a sloping back wall, convex-concave indentations on the back wall, partitions dividing up into compartments the chambers in front of the back wall, and a sloping second wall.

Abstract: A method and means are provided for stopping erosion of beach areas and restoring the same by wave and wind activated formation of new dunes, by erecting on the beach area an elongate frame and screen structure of lightweight materials and anchoring said structure to the ground. The frame members are arranged and interconnected to form a plurality of tetrahedral units which, in turn, are assembled so as to present to incoming waves a zigzag-shaped wall composed of screen sections inclined upwards and landwards, whereby to subject the structure to forces tending to press it down towards the ground and thus to retain it in position even before it is buried in accumulating sand masses. The invention includes special means for interconnecting the frame members and for anchoring the structure.

Abstract: Low-cost and very effective retaining walls are constructed with stacked, generally rectangular, trays of steel wire fabric sheets, each with one end bent up to form a portion of the wall face. In constructing a wall, a first course of trays is set in place and filled, with filtering rocks and/or mats being placed toward the front and against the bent-up face section and fill soil being placed to the rear of the tray. A second course of trays is then placed on top of the first course and the corner of the face bend of the second course is securely fastened to the top of the lower course. Thus, the top of each face is supported and each course is anchored by the next course, thereby resulting in a strong monolithic and permeable wall that will readily conform to irregularities and settling of the foundation surface.