Edwards-Pitman, Inc. (EP) has completed fieldwork for a Phase I archaeological survey for the proposed bridge replacement on the United States (US) 29 / State Route (SR) 8 /SR 174 over the Hudson River in Franklin and Madison counties. EP was contracted by ATKINS (ATK) to locate and evaluate archaeological resources within the Environmental Survey Boundary (ESB) that was provided to EP by ATK. The ESB is explicitly designed to encompass all areas of possible/foreseeable ground disturbance as a result of the current project. When the design is complete, the Area of Potential Effect (APE) will likely be smaller than the surveyed ESB. Resources identified within the ESB were evaluated in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
No previously recorded sites or surveys were located within the ESB or the 1-kilometer (km) (0.62 mile [mi]) record search radius according to the Georgia Archaeological Site File (GASF).
During the archaeological survey, EP identified one new site, 9DM209. The site is a historic mid twentieth to twenty-first century cemetery, also referred to as New Hope Worship Center Cemetery. No shovel testing occurred in the area where the church parcel and ESB overlap; only systematic subsurface probing was conducted in this area. No anomalies or evidence of unmarked graves were detected during the systematic subsurface probing or visual observation of the area. Since this is a shared resource with History the cemetery and church were assessed for eligibility under Criteria A through C for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) within a Historic Resources Survey Report (HRSR). History's assessment of the cemetery recommends the cemetery and church ineligible for inclusion on the NRHP under Criteria A through C (EP 2020). Since no below ground investigations were conducted within the cemetery, the NRHP eligibility recommendation for the site under Criterion D is unknown.
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