Intensive Archaeological Resources Survey for the Proposed Burnt Church-Tradeport Industrial Park 115kV Transmission Line

A Phase I intensive archaeological resources survey was conducted for the proposed Burnt Church-Tradeport Industrial Park 115kV Transmission Line in Liberty and Bryan counties, Georgia. The project was carried out as part of the Programmatic Agreement (PA) in place between Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC) and the Georgia State Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division (HPD). Though technically due diligence, all activities described herein have been carried out in accordance with the stipulations of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (per 36 CFR Part 800, as amended through 2004) and by personnel qualified under 36 CFR Part 61. This project is intended to identify and document archaeological resources within the property boundaries, and assess eligibility for inclusion of encountered archaeological resources on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) according to the criteria set forth by 36 CFR Part 63. It does not include an historic structures survey, as that is part of a separate undertaking. The survey was conducted along a length of proposed corridor stretching approximately 19.6 kilometers (km) (12.2 miles [mi]) which extends west from the Tradeport Industrial Substation site (Liberty County), then north along 1-95. It crosses the Jericho River into Bryan County; south of Poplar Swamp, the line turns east to connect to the Burnt Church Substation. The proposed right-of-way (ROW) for these lines generally measures 15 meters (m) (50 feet [ft]) in width on either side of the centerline (30m [100ft] total width); most of the project corridor lies largely adjacent to existing roadways, residential development or wetlands. This project includes the survey of 15 access roads for use in building the transmission line. The ROW for these roads is 9 m (30 ft), with additional clearing of up to 15 m (50 ft) required at turns. While these corridors are largely existing unimproved roads currently being used for logging, several may need to be cleared or widened to allow access of trucks and equipment. All access roads were assessed and surveyed to identify cultural resources in portions of the access road which would require modification. During the survey, Brockington and Associates identified one previously unknown archaeological site (Site 9LI1770) and one isolated prehistoric artifact find within the project corridor. Both of these finds are small occurrences of prehistoric pottery and are considered ineligible for the NRHP. During the Phase I survey, Brockington located and assessed the current condition of sites 9BN166, a prehistoric pottery scatter, and 9Lil646, a historic artifact scatter within the project corridor along 1-95 and GA-138, respectively. These small, ephemeral sites have been impacted previously by road and utility corridors and are both ineligible for the NRHP. All other known sites in the vicinity fall outside the corridor.