An Archaeological and Historical Survey of the Proposed Bowman Loop-Momentum Expansion Project in Elbert and Madison Counties, Georgia

From February 20 to March 7, 2001, Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (PCD of Tampa, Florida, under contract with Williams Gas Pipeline-Transco of Houston, Texas, performed a cultural resource assessment survey for the proposed construction of the Bowman Loop-Momentum Expansion Project in Elbert and Madison counties, Georgia. The intent of this field investigation was to locate, identify, and record prehistoric and historic properties within the project boundaries, as defined by Williams Gas Pipeline Transco. The survey was performed by Paul Jones, RPA, James Ambrosino, RPA, Bill Baxter, crew chief, and Jason Aiken and Joe Albright, archaeological technicians.

The proposed Bowman Loop follows the existing right-of-way of the existing Williams Gas Pipeline-Transco pipeline while crossing and deviating slightly from this line at various points. The loop measures 7.52 miles long, starting at MP 1124.71 in Madison County and running northeast to MP 1132.23 in Elbert County. The start is at a pumping station along Transco Road about 1.5 miles south of Highway 281, northeast of Danielsville, Georgia. The loop ends at a smaller pumping station on Highway 17 within the northwestern part of the town of Bowman, Georgia. The Bowman Loop lies on the 1972 Danielsville North, Ga. (photo inspected 1981) and 1972 Bowman, Ga., USGS 7.5' topographic quadrangles.

Prior to the commencement of the fieldwork, the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) representative, Richard Warner, was consulted on February 7, 2001, and agreement was reached on the size of the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for the project, the methods to be followed for the field survey, and the format of the final report. The APE was defined as a 100-ft. wide corridor running the entire length of the project with some slightly wider areas of potential impact corresponding to proposed workstations, mainly at stream and road crossings (see Appendix A for locations and sizes of the workstations). Despite the fact that portions of the current project corridor were surveyed previously (Meyer et al. 1989), the entire 100-ft. wide corridor for the proposed Bowman Loop was surveyed.

The cultural resources investigation conducted for this project is required to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act prior to PERC authorization of an undertaking and the issuance of a FERC certificate for the pipeline project. The cultural resources investigation complies with these federal laws and regulations as well as the guidelines set forth by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division.