Managing the Unexpected in Recent and Ancient Urban Settings: Lessons from the New Mississippi River Bridge Project [presentation]

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IL DOT) in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration is constructing a new bridge across the Mississippi River at St. Louis. Interstate 70 is being redirected through East St. Louis and across the new bridge. From 2009 to 2012 the IL DOT sponsored one of the largest data-recovery excavations ever undertaken in the nation. Teams of archaeologists from the Illinois State Archaeological Survey working along the new I-70 alignment in postindustrial East St. Louis uncovered the well-preserved remnants of an early Mississippian city. Nearly 6,000 habitation features were discovered beneath layers of rubble from abandoned neighborhoods, factories, and the National Stockyards. The unexpected discovery of a Mississippian mound remnant and associated burials posed one of several challenges that were resolved through meaningful consultation among tribes, archaeologists, and engineers. In this paper, we summarize key discoveries and tribal consultation efforts.