NON-CRM GROUP STAFF EXPERIENCE

• Archaeological Assessment and Mitigation of Highway 407 ROW, Ontario  Click images to enlarge (pop up window)

  In 1994, Canadian Highways International Constructors (CHIC) was awarded the contract to design and construct the 70 km Central Section of Highway 407. As a member of the CHIC consortium, Dillon's cultural resource management group, directed by W. Bruce Stewart, was assigned responsibility for heritage and archaeological issues between within the scope of the Highway 407 project between Markham and Mississauga. The multi-year project included historical/archival research, field survey, the testing of identified archaeological resources and the mitigation of significant Native and Euro-Canadian sites. The work was undertaken by a staff of up to 50 archaeologists (including staff archaeologist Mike Sanders ), heritage planners and researchers. The rapid pace of design and development required the full integration of CRM issues into the overall design and construction schedules.

  Archaeological resources within the ROW included over thirty sites yielding evidence of settlement patterns, resource use and subsistence strategies, as well as artifacts, which reflect over 8,000 years of human occupation. While the primary means of impact mitigation was excavation, site avoidance was successfully implemented in several occasions, preserving sites for posterity.

  
  

• Unexploded Ordnance Survey Plan for Tracadie Range in Tracadie,
  New Brunswick

  In 1995, the Department of National Defence retained Dillon and Australian Defence Industries (ADI) to produce a detailed approach and cost estimate to clear the Tracadie Range of unexploded ordnance (UXO). As part of the UXO clearance plan for the 18,088 hectare Range, W. Bruce Stewart and Mike Sanders of Dillon's cultural resource management staff characterized the archaeological potential of the area through a review of existing site data and historic settlement, followed by a focussed field survey designed to assess the condition of known sites. Analysis of available data indicates that the significant archaeological resource base, representing every major period in prehistory, as well as early nineteenth century lumbering activities, is focussed on the valley floors of the navigable water courses that traverse the Range.

  
  

• Feasibility Study into the Restoration and Interpretation of the Chapel Point Battery in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton   Click image to enlarge (pop up window)

  In 1992, the Town of Sydney Mines retained Dillon to undertake a feasibility study into the restoration and interpretation of the Chapel Point Battery, a major component within the WW II coastal defences for Sydney Harbour. The study included identification of interpretive themes, an assessment of on-site structural remains, an evaluation of development and operational costs and the impact on tourism and the local economy. W. Bruce Stewart served as Project Co-ordinator.

  
  

• Investigation of the East Koochiching Burial Site on Sandy Lake, Ontario   Click image to enlarge (pop up window)

  In response to the chance discovery of human remains in the remote Native community of East Koochiching, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources retained the services of W. Bruce Stewart , Dillon's senior archaeologist to investigate the burial under the terms of the Ontario Cemeteries Act. Through close consultation with the local community, Stewart was able to complete a field analysis of the burial, determining the age, sex and race of the individual, as well as the age of the burial. With the permission of the Elders, the remains were disinterred and prepared for reburial by the Community in a secure location. Sensitivity to the concerns of the local Community ensured the success of the undertaking.

  
  

• Archaeological monitoring of Environmental Clean-up of the Old Post Office in Fredericton, New Brunswick   Click image to enlarge (pop up window)

  Dillon Consulting was retained by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to carry out a petroleum cleanup in two parking lots located northeast of the Queen Street post office in downtown Fredericton. As the affected area lay within the Fredericton Military Compound, a national historic site, as well as a registered provincial archaeological site, PWGSC required archaeological monitoring of the cleanup. Mike Sanders of Dillon's CRM group conducted background research and monitored all mechanical excavation. While no intact historic features were encountered, the monitoring did yield historic artifacts relating to the various periods of Euro-Canadian occupation of the Compound. These artifacts and the associated monitoring report provide information that will guide future CRM activities in the area.

  
  

• Impact Assessment for the Halifax Harbour Cleanup (Halifax Component), Nova Scotia   Click image to enlarge (pop up window)

  In 1993, as part of the Dillon's team working on the Halifax Harbour Cleanup, W. Bruce Stewart designed and implemented a combined program of historical and archaeological research to identify and assess the potential cultural impacts posed by the project to the Halifax side of the harbour. Archival investigations identified past land use and settlement patterns that would have contributed to the archaeological record. Field testing was used to assess the degree of site preservation and potential for excavation.

  
  

• Cultural Resource Impact Assessment TransMaritime Pipeline ROW Country Harbour, Nova Scotia to Quebec Border   Click image to enlarge (pop up window)

  On behalf of TransMaritime Gas Transmission Limited, Dillon conducted an environmental and socio-economic impact assessment to identify a 640 km pipeline ROW between Country Harbour on the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia and the Quebec Border north of Edmundston, New Brunswick. As part of the impact assessment, W. Bruce Stewart and Mike Sanders of Dillon's CRM group documented registered archaeological and built heritage resources within the 10 km wide study area, developed and applied a site potential model for prehistoric and historic resources within the 23 m wide ROW, and finally, field tested the model. All stages of the assessment were documented by means of a GIS-generated constraint atlas.

  
  

• Fort Frontenac Archaeological Research Project Kingston, Ontario   Click images to enlarge (pop up window)
  Photographs courtesy of the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation

  The seventeenth and eighteenth century outpost of Fort Frontenac or Cataqaqui, located on the shores of Lake Ontario in the present day City of Kingston, has long been recognized for its significant roles in the exploration of the Great Lakes region, the development and expansion of the French colonial fur trade and ultimately, the settlement of Ontario. Fort Frontenac became the focus of archaeological investigations in 1982 when a program of test excavations was undertaken by archaeologist W. Bruce Stewart . The project generated significant public interest and gave birth to the Cataraqui Archaeological Research Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the recognition, investigation and preservation of archaeological resources in the Kingston area.

  As the Foundation's Executive Director and Senior Archaeologist, Stewart directed a multi-year program of excavation and archival research into the French and later British occupations of the fort and surrounding lands. Due to the location of the site relative to existing streets and buildings (including a Department of National Defence training facility), excavation focussed on the northwest bastion and adjacent curtain walls. During the course of its research on the fort site, the Foundation also had the opportunity to conduct investigations on several adjoining development sites and undertake the initial assessment of a French period cemetery exposed by construction within the adjacent DND property.

  The Fort Frontenac project yielded a wealth of physical and archival data relating to over three centuries of occupation as a military establishment. Excavations unearthed evidence of daily life at the fort, as well as the varying influences manifest at the site by the Iroquois Nation, French and British foreign policy, and nineteenth to twentieth century urbanization. Following completion of the excavations, the structural remains of the northwest bastion and adjacent curtain walls were stabilized and extended above ground level to provide a physical memorial to those who lived and died at the frontier post.