Field wave data were acquired at Redondo Beach Breakwater, CA, by the Prototype Measurement and Analysis Branch of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Coastal Engineering Research Center as part of the Monitoring Completed Coastal Projects Program. This report summarizes data collected throughout the experiment. The purpose of this study was to provide actual field data to evaluate output from a numerical model, Regional Coastal Processes Wave Transformation Model, (RCPWAVE Computer program), which predicts waves propagating through a coastal region of irregular bathymetry. This report contains brief descriptions of the monitoring effort and equipment and provides collected wave information in graphic and tabular form. Statistical analysis of wave data will be provided in a future report.

Three separate and distinct (although interrelated) problems exist at Redondo Beach King Harbor, California, at the present time: recurring, but infrequent, structural damage to the breakwater; excessive wave activity in the harbor caused by waves penetrating through and overtopping the permeable rubble-mound breakwater; and shoaling of the harbor navigation channel and boat mooring area. The US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station was requested to: (a) perform a water wave refraction/diffraction/shoaling analysis of the 1983 winter storms to determine the wave characteristics and frequencies-of-occurrence at the breakwater structure site for the extreme storm events of historical record and for the higher sea waves which overtop the lower portion of the breakwater on an average annual basis; (b) determine the magnitude of wave penetration through the permeable rubble-mound structure, overtopping of the structure, and total wave transmission into the harbor; (c) evaluate the effect of raising the crest elevation of the structure on wave transmission into the harbor; (d) estimate the structure armor stone required for stability based on the return period of storm waves of various heights; and (e) propose alternative structural measures for reducing excess waves in Basin 3 and reducing harbor shoaling by sediment penetration through the breakwater. Keywords: Armor stone, Chemical grouts, Overtopping, Permeability, Refraction, Rubble-mound breakwater, Storm damage, Transmission, Water waves.