Project Highlights

2012 National Council on Public History -Excellence in Consulting Award

2011 Engineering Excellence Award from the South Carolina Chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies

2011 The National Hydropower Association Award for Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters

2009 Corporate Stewardship Award from the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation

S&ME has completed an intensive cultural resources survey and preparation of an Historic Properties Management Plan (HPMP) for South Carolina Electric and Gas Company’s (SCE&G) Saluda Hydroelectric Relicensing Project (FERC Project No. 516).  These investigations included the examination of 141 islands (approx. 745 acres) and 89 miles of shoreline along Lake Murray and the Lower Saluda River. A total of 156 archaeological sites, 42 isolated finds, and eight above ground historic resources were investigated.

For this project, S&ME also completed data recovery excavations, analysis, and reporting of the Tree House archaeological site located along the Lower Saluda River. This is one of the oldest, most important archaeological sites in Southeast and more than 37,000 artifacts ranging from 13,500 to 800 years ago were recovered. Public information in the form of a glossy, color booklet and artifact/interpretive displays at three local venues were also produced.

The Saluda Hydroelectric Project has involved extensive consultation efforts with the State Historic Preservation Office; the Catawba and Cherokee Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Offices; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism; the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission; and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology. In addition, there has been ongoing consultation with the public in the form of quarterly public meetings, and periodic meetings of the Cultural Resource Conservation Group.

The work conducted for SCE&G demonstrates S&ME’s experience in performing a wide range of cultural resource services, including archaeological and architectural surveys, testing, and data recovery excavations; preparation of an HPMP; and consultation with Federal and State agencies and Indian Tribes.