At the request of the Port of San Antonio, Pape-Dawson conducted archaeological monitoring of the proposed flood improvements to Building 652 at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. These improvements consisted of construction of walls on the north, south, and west sides of the building to protect the structure from flooding episodes due to road surface run off. These walls are approximately 1,016 feet (ft) (310 meters [m]) in total length, 1 ft (0.30 m) in width, and 3 ft (1 m) in depth.
Since this project is located on land owned by the Port of San Antonio, which is a political subdivision of the state of Texas, compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT) is necessary. In addition, federal funds are being used as part of this project, which requires compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Fieldwork took place intermittently between May 26 and September 3, 2015. Based on coordination with the City of San Antonio (COSA) Archaeologist and the Texas Historical Commission (THC), PapeDawson archaeologists monitored approximately 30% of the total trenching time for wall construction to determine whether soils are intact or if fill exists in these locations. Archaeologists also visually inspected all open trenches at the time of monitoring. Archaeologists observed disturbed soils at each wall location, and no cultural materials were observed or recovered. Project records and photographs will be curated at the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at the University of Texas San Antonio. Based on the results of the investigation, Pape-Dawson archaeologists recommend that no further archaeological work is necessary for the proposed project
