Archaeological Identification and Assessment of Fifteen Anonalies in the South Channel and Lazaretto Creek, Chatham County, Georgia

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is planning a project to widen US 80/SR 26 from just west of Bull River to just east of Lazaretto Creek in Chatham County, Georgia. The proposed project will widen the existing roadway to four lanes, widen the existing bridges and will construct two additional bridges over Bull River and Lazaretto Creek. The source of fill material for the new roadbed will be several spoil piles on Bird/ Long Island in the Savannah River. That material will be barged down the Savannah River and through Tybee Channel to an offloading point north of the existing US 80/SR 26 Bridge in the vicinity of, or within Lazaretto Creek. In order to ensure that the proposed project does not impact submerged historic or archaeological resources that are eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), GDOT contracted with Tidewater Atlantic Research, Inc. (TAR) of Washington, North Carolina to conduct a remote sensing survey and low water investigation of South Channel east of the Fort Pulaski Bridge, Tybee Knoll Spit and the navigation channel along Tybee Island to the junction of the main shipping channel adjacent to the south jetty and Lazaretto Creek to a point approximately 0.5 mile from its mouth. A total of 291 magnetic and/or acoustic anomalies were identified during the survey. Twenty-five of those targets contained signature characteristics suggestive of historically significant cultural resources. Of those, 15 were determined to lie in the Area of Potential Effect and were recommended for additional investigation. That investigation was also carried out by TAR archaeologists working under a contractual agreement with the Atlanta office of PBS&J. Between 26 November and 17 December 2005, anomalies TC-04, TC-50, TC-52, TC-65, TC-68, TK-02, TK-70, TK-83, TK-86, TK-87, TK-90, LC-11, LC-12, LC-38 and SC2-73 were examined. While material generating several of the signatures was buried too deep for identification, investigation identified most as modern debris such as cable, drums, traps, concrete and iron construction material, and the fragmentary remains of a modern fishing vessel. One anomaly, TC-50, appears to be the remains of a gun platform constructed during the Union attack on Fort Pulaski. Limited test excavation confirmed that structural remains at the site preserve some design and construction data that does not appear to have survived in the historical record. As the site is eligible for nomination to the NRHP, excavation and documentation of the structure should be considered to mitigate potential adverse impacts to the resource associated with the US 80/SR 26 widening project.