Project: Archaeological Remote Sensing and Diver Survey of Navigation Channel Improvement Areas, Wilmington Harbor Waterfront and Northeast Cape Fear River, North Carolina

In preparation for planned navigation channel improvements for Wilmington Harbor and the Northeast Cape Fear River, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District contracted with M-AT to conducted archaeological marine remote sensing and diving operations within the Area of Effect of the proposed harbor project.

A portion of Wilmington Harbor project improvements are within the Wilmington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places. Of the 65 archaeological sites recorded in the vicinity of the harbor improvements, 37 are within the Historic District. The majority of these sites are abandoned or wrecked vessels of a variety of types.

M-AT conducted magnetometer and side scan sonar surveys of the entire Wilmington Harbor Project. M-AT also conducted diving investigations of the known wrecks sites A.P. Hurt and the “Hilton Wreck”; both of these shipwrecks have been the subject of past underwater archaeological investigations. M-AT revisited these sites to determine their present condition and to retrieve additional archaeological data on each.

A total of 17 target sites were identified during the remote sensing survey.

For Internet Explorer 8 users: Slideshow: NE Cape Fear River