Archival Research, Remote Sensing, and Low Water Survey, Savannah Harbor Deepening Project Final Report

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has proposed deepening the Savannah Harbor Navigation Project an additional four feet. The deepening project has been designed to begin at Station - 58+000 and extend through Station + 102+000. In addition, the entrance channel may be extended approximately 2,500 feet and areas which are subject to shoaling may be dredged an additional 2 to 4 feet deeper. The deepening will naturally increase the slope and erode the channel shoulders along the navigation alignments. Changes to the slope and shoulder areas could have a serious impact on significant submerged cultural resources, including historic shipwrecks and other archaeological sites found in the proximity of the Savannah River channel. In order to identify potentially significant submerged cultural resources in those areas to be affected by the deepening project, Tidewater Atlantic Research (TAR) of Washington, North Carolina was contracted by Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, to conduct a cultural resource remote sensing survey using side scan sonar and a marine magnetometer. In addition, a low water shoreline survey was conducted along selected portions of the Savannah River where the deepening project may affect cultural resources found in the intertidal zone. A total of 52 magnetic and/or acoustic remote sensing targets were identified during the remote sensing investigations and a total of 37 sites were located by the shoreline survey. Twelve terrestrial sites were determined to be potentially significant and may be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Those sites are recommended for further investigation. Thirty-five submerged targets were found to have remote sensing signature characteristics which are similar to those previously found to be associated with historically significant submerged cultural resources and may also be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. These 35 submerged targets are also recommended for further investigation.