400 Miles of Archeological Surveys

Minimizing Area of Survey / 12 Counties in West TX

by Joey O’Keefe

Scurry County, TX

Archeological site

The size of a project area dictates the size of the survey, which in turn determines the necessary time it takes for a project from beginning to completion. However, predictive models and methods, when successfully utilized, can assist in determining the most probable areas for archeological materials, and more importantly for some projects, how to avoid them. Avoidance measure based on these predictive models focusing on high probability areas (HPA) assist with reducing the size of project areas, the time it would take to complete a survey of the project area, and necessary staff needed for the survey, which all impact the overall associated costs.

As part of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones initiative, Wind Energy Transmission of Texas (WETT) is proposed several transmission lines to distribute power generated by the wind farms in west-central Texas. While WETT was under no federal or state requirement to carry out archeological studies, the company was committed to respecting the area’s potential for unknown cultural resources.

Prior to the construction for transmission lines for WETT, archeologists from aci env consulting conducted an intensive Phase I survey of the entire 400-mile proposed transmission line corridor, spanning 12 different counties in west Texas. In order to minimize the time it would take to conduct the large-scale linear survey, aci developed a method for responsible stewardship of cultural resources consisting of a blend of archival research, archeological investigation, and an understanding of the physical and cultural landscape. This allowed the archeological team to focus testing efforts on areas of highest probability for archeological resources while examining the entire route for surface indications of archeological sites.