State and local Departments of Transportation (DOTs) routinely encounter the need for cultural resource services. Cultural resources are a vital component of feasibility and alternative location studies, as well as a critical element in the completion of Environmental Impact Statement documentation for construction corridors. New South Associates has worked closely with a number of state and county transportation programs to provide innovative, responsive, and timely recommendations for archaeological and historic sites in transportation planning. New South Associates’ primary objectives include: clearly and concisely identifying cultural resource concerns at an early stage in the planning process; helping to evaluate the potential impacts of transportation projects on these resources; helping to evaluate these impacts within the matrix of other social and environmental issues; and mitigating the adverse effects where they occur in a timely and cost effective manner, while avoiding construction delays.
As a measure of our success in providing quality cultural resources consulting to transportation engineers, more than 300 transportation cultural resource projects, as well as indefinite delivery contracts have been awarded to New South Associates. Additionally, New South Associates was hired as a consultant for road surveys by the Federal Highway Department. We have worked extensively with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the Georgia Department of Transportation, as well as the DOT’s of Tennessee, Alabama, and the US Virgin Islands. Some examples of our transportation work include:
• Data Recovery Excavations at numerous sites in Georgia, including 9BR34 (Hardin Bridge), 9RH41 and 9RH27, 9JE1 and 9RI1036 (Free Cabin Site) for GDOT;
• An Archeological Sample Survey within the Hiwassee River Valley, US 64 in Murphy to East of NC 141, Cherokee County, North Carolina for NCDOT;
• Archaeological Survey and Testing of Winston Salem North Beltway Western Section Survey and Testing, Forsyth County, North Carolina for NCDOT;
• SC170 Road Widening Archaeological Survey and Testing, Beaufort and Jasper Counties, South Carolina for SCDOT;
• Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Tri-Cities Regional Airport Expansion, Tennessee for PBS&J.
• A Traditional Cultural Property Study of New Echota, the First Cherokee National Capital from 1825-1828, Georgia for GDOT;
• Archaeological and Historical Resources Review and Assessment: Atlanta-Chattanooga High Speed Ground Transportation Study, Tier I EIS for GDOT;
• Historic Resources Survey Eisenhower Parkway Extension, Georgia for GDOT;• Phase I and Phase II Cultural Resources Survey and Testing of the Christiansted Bypass, St. Croix, USVI DOT;
• Grace Memorial Bridge HAER Documentation for SCDOT; and
• Archaeological and Architectural Survey of the Georgiana Bypass, Butler County, Alabama for ALDOT.
New South Associates understands that ‘transportation’ encompasses much more than highways and has a staff that is ready to apply our knowledge, experience, and resources to many other transportation studies including airport expansions and rapid rail lines.