Article Title

Short Report on the Intensive Archeological Survey of the City of Austin’s Burleson Road Pressure Conversion Travis County, Texas

Authors

Gregg Cestaro
Shannon Smith
Keith Faz
Josh Haefner

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

Hicks & Company archeologists, working on behalf of K. Friese + Associates and the City of Austin (COA), recently conducted an archeological survey supplemented with shovel testing in undisturbed locations for the COA’s proposed Burleson Road Pressure Conversion project (Figure 1). According to current design plans, pipe will be installed through open-cut trenching with a northern terminus at East Riverside Drive and a southern terminus at Burleson Road within a 10 meter-wide construction corridor. From its northern terminus, the proposed alignment follows Grove Boulevard southward to Montopolis Drive, for an approximate distance of 1,355 meters. After which, the proposed alignment turns west, following the East Oltorf Street corridor, until turning south on Alvin Devane Boulevard, crossing under State Highway (SH) 71 via installation using a jack and bore methodology. Continuing on to Comsouth Drive, the alignment turns east to follow Trade Center Drive for an approximate distance of 655 meters before turning south/southwest for approximately 370 meters before terminating at Burleson Road. Currently, construction easements are planned at three locations: approximately 450 meters south of the intersection of East Riverside Drive and Grove Boulevard; just north of SH 71 near Alvin Devane Boulevard; and along the proposed alignment between Trade Center Drive and Burleson Road. The total acreage for this project is 10.62 acres.

The project is being funded by the COA and is therefore subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT). Investigations were conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit #7177 in accordance with the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Council of Texas Archeologists’ (CTAs) guidelines for intensive archeological survey. During the investigations, 13 shovel tests were excavated, with all shovel tests negative for cultural materials. None of the shovel tests excavated during this survey were positive for cultural materials and no archeological sites, features, or artifacts were observed during the investigations. Based on the results of the current survey, it is recommended that no archeological historic properties (36 CFR 800.16(1)) or State Antiquities Landmarks (13 TAC 26.12) will be affected by this construction of the proposed alignment. No further cultural resource investigations are recommended for the proposed project.

Fieldwork for the initial archeological survey occurred on February 19, 2015, requiring ten labor hours to complete. Necessitated by a rerouting of the segment located between Trade Center Drive and Burleson Road, additional fieldwork was conducted on October 19, 2015, requiring six labor hours to complete. Josh Haefner served as Principal Investigator and Gregg Cestaro served as Project Archeologist. Gregg Cestaro, Shannon Smith, and Keith Faz authored the report and conducted the survey with Josh Haefner and Meghan Egan. This report includes an environmental background, a discussion of previous surveys and recorded sites, a description of field methodology, a discussion of the results of the field investigation, and a conclusion containing formal regulatory recommendations. Also included are appendices containing regulatory correspondence (Appendix A), and shovel test results and locations (Appendix B). Project-generated notes, forms, and photographs will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory in Austin, Texas. This report is offered in partial fulfillment of Texas Antiquities Permit #7177.

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