Cultural Resources Survey for the Islands Expressway Transmission Line Replacement Project, Chatham County, GA

On November 6, 2017, Brockington and Associates, Inc., (Brockington) conducted a cultural resources survey of an approximate 22.3-acre project corridor located along the Islands Expressway immediately east of the Wilmington River in Chatham County, Georgia. Georgia Power Company (GPC) is planning to build a replacement transmission line and associated access road on the south side of the Islands Expressway near the Wilmington River Islands Expressway Bridge. A portion of the project area was previously surveyed by Brockington in 2012 for the Islands Expressway (CR787) Bridge Replacements Project (Reynolds 2013; Rock and Reynolds 2012). In an effort to identify sensitive cultural resources in the project tract and to assess any impact the project may have on those resources, GPC commissioned an addendum Phase I cultural resources survey. Survey investigations were carried out on behalf of GPC in partial fulfillment of guidelines established by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, by personnel qualified under 36 CFR Part 61. Survey tasks were completed in accordance with criteria defined under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended), (PL 93-291), and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation revised 36 CFR Part 800 Regulations.

Background research and field survey were used to identify potentially significant resources within the project’s Area of Potential Effects (APE). The project area consists of an approximate 600-meter- (m) long by 150-m-wide corridor (22.3 acres) which includes a portion of the Islands Expressway located on the east side of the Wilmington River. The width of the corridor extends beyond both the north and south sides of the Islands Expressway pavement for approximately 40 to 75 m. The current undertaking includes both archaeological and historic architectural survey components. The archaeological APE is defined as the entire project area, and the architectural resources APE is defined as the entire archaeological APE as well as its immediate viewshed (an area within approximately 50 to 200 m of the proposed project). Approximately 18.1 acres of the 22.3-acre project area was previously surveyed by Brockington (Reynolds 2103; Rock and Reynolds 2012); therefore, only 4.2 acres along the southern edge and in the northwest corner of the project area required field survey for the current project. Figures 1 and 2 present the location of the project area. Figure 3 presents the location of the project area in relation to that of the previously recorded survey (Reynolds 2013; Rock and Reynolds 2012). Proposed construction of the project will directly impact soils that will be mechanically graded, cut, and filled for the proposed transmission line and access road. Secondary impacts that may occur include heavy machinery traveling within the project tract. Types of impacts may include the removal and relocation of soils, clearing of vegetation, filling activities, temporary increases in erosional outwash or redeposition, and visual changes to the viewshed.