During the past decade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting a General Investigation of Tidal Inlets (GITl). The GITI was an applied research program through which a wide range of inlet phenomena relating to Corps responsibilities for coastal navigation and recreation, prevention of beach erosion, and control of coastal flooding were investigated. The program was managed by the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC); specific research projects were conducted by CERC, the U.S. Army Waterways Experiment Station (WES), private consultants, and universities. The various GITI research efforts can be divided into five categories: 1) field studies of the hydraulics and sedimentary dynamics of selected inlets, 2) analysis of historic field data, 3) numerical models of inlet hydraulics, 4) movable and fixed-bed physical inlet models, and 5) other miscellaneous inlet studies. Research results are being published in a special report series. The number, title, author and date of each report are listed in the Appendix - GITI Reports. The intent of this paper is to summarize GITI research efforts and, based on key results of this research as well as recent Corps field experience, to recommend new areas for research.
THE CORPS OF ENGINEER'S GENERAL INVESTIGATION OF TIDAL INLETS
