The Georgia Department of Transportation wishes to replace an aging, existing one-lane bridge that carries Harmony Church Road over Pond Fork (a. k. a. East Fork) with a larger, twolaned bridge. It will be replaced in-place, and no temporary, adjacent crossing will be needed. Thus, the project area is quite narrow, and in essence does not extend beyond the present 18 m (60 ft) right-of-way. To ensure inclusion of all areas of potential effect, our survey area was defined as a 40 m (131 ft) wide, 200 m (656 ft) long corridor centered on the existing bridge. The great majority of the project area was graded, eroded, ditched or sloping. Surface exposures were examined for artifacts and three shovel tests were excavated in relatively undisturbed contexts. The creek bed was inspected for evidence of mills and older bridges. No artifacts or cultural resources were encountered by our survey. Since no archeological resources are present in the area of potential effect, it is the opinion of the Principal Investigator that the proposed project will have no effect on archeological resources and that the project should be given clearance to proceed.
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