Phase I Archaeological Backhoe Survey of the 0.97-acre Hutchinson Island Slip 1 Project Tract

During 19-24 June 2016, Brockington and Associates Inc. (Brockington) completed a Phase I backhoe survey of a 0.97-acre parcel adjacent to and immediately east of Slip 1 and the Westin Resort Hotel on the southern portion of Hutchinson Island, Chatham County, Georgia. This archaeological investigation was required by the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Section 404 (Clean Water Act) permit stipulation. Savannah Harbor Associates LLC proposes construction of a Riverwalk along the water edge of Slip 1

The project tract is crescent-shaped and measures pproximately 217.5 meters (m) long (northsouth) with a maximum width of approximately 26.5 m. Previous background research indicates the project soils consist entirely of dredged fill over old marshlands that exceed 10 feet (ft) in depth. Impacts include construction of approximately 1,000 linear ft of a combined king pile and sheet pile wall bulkhead along the western and northern edges of Slip 1 and approximately 1,000 linear ft of sheet pile bulkhead and Riverwalk structure along the east side of Slip 1. The bulkhead within the slip will allow for dredging of approximately 145,000 cubic yards within the existing slip and additional 10,000 cubic yards of upland dredging. The area within the bulkhead limits will be dredged to an elevation of 15 mean low water (MLW). The Riverwalk located on the eastern slip edge will be a pile supported structure with concrete piles located every 25 ft. The Riverwalk is planned to be approximately 12 ft wide and includes necessary lighting and dry and wet utilities to function as required by Chatham County.

Previous background research (Sweeney 2016) indicated the Hutchinson Island project area was marshlands until the late nineteenth century. Due to the large amounts of fill that has been placed in the project area since that time, conventional archaeological survey methods with hand excavated shovel tests are not useful for identifying the potential for deeply buried cultural resources. Brockington developed and submitted a research design for mechanical backhoe excavations (Sweeney 2016) to determine whether or not significant archaeological deposits are present. The research design was reviewed and approved by both the Savannah District and Georgia Historic Preservation Division.

The present archaeological investigation consisted of the excavation of seven (7), 10-meter long backhoe trenches. Beginning in the north end of the crescent shaped tract, six of the trenches were excavated on an east-west orientation, and we excavated the seventh in a north-south orientation to fit into the southernmost portion of the project area. The backhoe trenches demonstrated that fill deposits are relatively consistent throughout the project tract. Generally, the trenches extended 1.5 m through two strata of coarse sand to the water table at a sterile dark gray clay stratum representing original marsh clays.

Archival research indicates the project area was used as naval stores wharves and docks in the early to mid-twentieth century. We observed three vertical wood pilings in Trench 5, but not in any of the other trenches. Three, two-inch steel water pipes were exposed running east to west in Trenches 2, 5, and 7. Likewise an eight-inch terracotta sewer pipe was observed in Trench 4 (also east-west). All these pipes were lying on top of the sterile 5YR 3/1 very dark gray marshland clay stratum. Only one iron/ steel artifact (not collected) was observed in these trenches; it was a pulley mechanism likely used to load freight on ships along a cable line.

No significant archaeological deposits or artifacts were identified in any of the backhoe trenches. The proposed undertaking will not cause adverse effects to significant archaeological resources within the project tract. While archival research indicates that the wharves and loading docks were once located at the project tract, we do not suggest recording this area as an archaeological site. The backhoe excavations indicate large amounts of sterile sand fill have been placed on the project tract since Slip 1 was abandoned in the 1950s. No further cultural resources investigations are suggested in the project area.