Res 2008-088 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

impacts will be evaluated. The Engineer will prepare necessary background information and analysis of impacts to biological resources including vegetation, wildlife, migratory birds, endangered species, and aquatic resources; 8) Archaeological Resources. This Project is subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas ("ACT"). The Engineer will submit an appropriate scope of work and permit application to the Texas Historical Commission (THC), the permitting and reviewing agency, via TxDOT. The Engineer assumes that funding for this Project will come in part from the FHWA and, as such, the construction is also subject to the provisions of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). After consulting with TxDOT to identify the Area of Potential Effect (APE), the Engineer will conduct a records search and literary review at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARE) and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) to locate any previously recorded sites and completed surveys in the project area. 1.4.4 As part of the investigation referenced in Section 1.4.3 c) 8) conduct an archeological survey of the proposed Project area that meets the minimum survey standards for linear project areas developed by the THC in consultation with the Council of Texas Archeologists (CTA 1987). These investigations will comply with appropriate archeological survey methods as defined in the Department of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines (NPS 1983), the Guidelines of the CTA (1987), and the survey standards developed by the THC in conjunction with the Council of Texas Archeologists (THC n.d.). This survey will be of sufficient intensity to determine the nature, extent, and if possible, the eligibility for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or for formal State Archeological Landmark (SAL) designation of any prehistoric and historic archeological properties and sites discovered within the Project area. The Engineer will conduct investigations in accordance with the First Amended Programmatic Agreement (PA) among the FHWA, the THC, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and TxDOT, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between TxDOT and THC. The Engineer's fieldwork for this task includes a 100 percent pedestrian survey of the Project area consisting of surface and subsurface investigations. Surface investigations will include the systematic examination of the ground surface throughout the project area looking for surface expressions of prehistoric and historic cultural materials. Survey standards (CTA 1987) for linear project areas recommend that, for areas exhibiting less than 30 percent ground surface visibility systematic shovel testing should be employed to prospect for buried cultural deposits at an interval of 16 shovel tests a mile. However, given the clayey upland soils that formed in situ from calcareous clay and shale that dominate the CR 132 Area of Potential Effect (APE), the Engineer will conduct judgmental shovel testing as necessary, as those soils have little to no potential for containing intact buried cultural deposits. If shovel testing indicates that there is the potential for buried cultural deposits beyond that which can be reached by hand excavations then, as per CTA survey standards for alluvial settings, backhoe trenching will be conducted by the Engineer or its subconsultant. KBR-Sessom Drive Roadway Improvements Agreement 10