You will find this web-published manual different enough from other U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Manuals that it warrants a welcome rather than an introduction. Publishing on the web opens a vast array of resources and offers a variety of media. It also enables you, the reader, to go as deeply as you like into a topic or to merely skim its surface. It is a much more active sort of document than a traditional manual.

Hardcopy manuals have generally been written to be read linearly from start to finish. It is likely that no two readers will follow the same path through these manuals. Some will read and ignore the links, some will click every link pursuing them until they are satisfied, others will pursue the links until there are no more links to pursue. Some of you will work with the sample computation files that have been attached. Others will study the Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides, a number will replay the audio files. The links lead to some wonderfully informative animations. In short, these web-published Procedures Manual offer a portal to more information about the Corps' business lines than any one person will ever need. So welcome to the new web-published National Economic Development (NED) manual series.

Web-publishing is still in its infancy and we hope to grow with it. You can expect to find some differences in the type and extent of interactivity with the materials as you move from one manual to the next. You will also notice that not all of the manual links are active yet. More materials will be added as these manuals are completed. With your feedback, we hope to eventually find the right formula for all of these topics, so please tell us what you like and don't like about these manuals by contacting us.

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Overview

In this manual series you will eventually find an Overview Manual for Conducting NED Analysis. That manual will provide an overview to the NED principle, which articulates a framework used to help determine the Federal interest in a water resource project. The NED principle articulates a very specific perspective to be used in valuing project outputs (benefits) and inputs (costs). Because the NED principle is fundamentally a normative economic policy, rather than an economic principle, it is often misunderstood. The Overview will provide a helpful articulation of the NED principle.

Primer

The Primer, when completed, will provide policy and other background materials that are germane to all of the Corps' business lines. This will include the following:

•  Principles & Guidelines planning process
•  Planning objectives
•  Multiple purpose planning
•  Study phase and level of detail
•  Institutional setting
•  Local sponsor participation
•  Plan formulation and the role of economics
•  Project management plan
•  Basis for Federal involvement
•  Regional Economic Development
•  Brief summary of risk & uncertainty
•  Links to other project delivery team members
•  Policy overview
•  Multiple-criteria decision analysis

Flood Risk Management

The flood damage reduction manual was the first manual completed. At the current time it serves as a model for future manuals. It begins by considering the elements of a flood problem at a level suitable for non-hydrologists. The hydroeconomic model used by the Corps to estimate expected annual damages (EAD) is critical to the NED evaluation of any flood damage reduction alternatives. Its three input functions and one output function are considered in some detail. The presentation of this model is conceptual in nature and it is not pegged to any particular tool used to estimate EAD.

Without condition flood damages issues are considered, followed by a careful look at how with condition scenarios alter one or more of the inputs to the hydroeconomic model. Uncertainty that is likely to be encountered in a flood damage reduction study is the next topic discussed. The unique consideration associated with nonstructural measures and the benefits are land use changes are considered in the next two sections. The manual concludes by considering how to use the information to estimate NED benefits for a flood damage reduction project.

Deep Draft Navigation

This web-based version of the Deep Draft Navigation Manual has the flexibility to be easily updated as new information becomes available and new methodologies are developed. The Manual describes accepted economic analysis procedures for deep draft navigation projects. It also describes the fundamentals of containership analysis. Containership traffic analysis is currently undergoing research and analytical advancements. Approved new methods for containership analysis will be provided in future updates of the Manual. Field economists engaged in containership analysis should contact the Deep Draft Navigation Planning Center of Expertise for up-to-date methodologies and to get specialized planning expertise.

Coastal Storm Damage

This Coastal Storm Risk Management Manual will assist planners and economists in applying policy in a practical manner. It replaces the 1991 manual, updating practice to a life-cycle approach as well as risk-informed decision making. It reviews the Corps planning process, describes basic coastal processes and coastal engineering principles and models used in evaluating storm and long-term erosion, and then presents a discussion of NED benefits and costs as they relate to coastal storm risk management. The manual also presents a framework for economic analysis of coastal projects and includes appendices with definitions of key coastal and planning terms.

This manual is primarily designed for economists responsible for preparing economic analyses of USACE coastal storm risk management projects. Audiences for the manual include economists, planners, project managers, hydrologists, hydraulic engineers and others involved in shore protection or coastal storm damage issues. They must be able to understand and explain the process of benefit calculation and determine which alternatives are promising enough to carry on to subsequent planning phases. Watch for the web version of this manual coming soon!