The primary objective of this study was to investigate the resistance to the operation of underwater equipment on the ocean floor. In the laboratory, tests were performed in a test tank on medium‐to‐coarse sand. The test objects were concrete blocks, concrete cylinders, and steel chains. These objects were towed on the surface of test soil at various speeds to predict the lateral resistance of an object on the ocean floor. Field tests were conducted at the bottom of Bonnet Shore Cove in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, in about 8 m of water. A concrete block was towed at two different velocities. The measured towing forces were in good agreement with the predicted loads, verifying the applicability of the results of laboratory study.