Riprap for Slope Protection Against Wave Action

In late 1971, a need was recognized for design procedures for riprap protection of slopes. At the 1975 National Design Engineers Conference, Portland, Oregon, members discussed their most urgent needs and, in the interest of national benefit, decided that the Engineering and Watershed Planning units and Engineering Division would make a coordinated effort to develop the needed riprap design procedures. Preparation of a technical release (TR) was assigned to the West National Technical Center (NTC) . The Engineering Division distributed a draft of the TR to other NTC's during 1978 for review and comments. The late Harry W. Firman was instrumental in developing the technical information. Others who assisted substantially in preparing the TR were Gary Margheim, Charles Houston, Jack Stevenson, Harold Honeyfield, Jack Land, and James Dunlap. The procedures presented herein should be useful to both planning and design engineers in determining preliminary or detailed design values for riprap protection of slopes.