Dig Day

The Footprint seemed busy today, and good deal of the activity centered on digging.

Above, a group sorted through the former vacant lots in the triangle below S. Tonti bounded by Banks and Tulane.  Last week, excavators began removing topsoil down to about a foot or two below the surface, and the area was fenced - presumably it's about removing contaminated soil.

Today, the workers were poking metal rods down into the earth at various points as the excavator worked.  A few old brick chunks were visible from the sidewalk.  The machine later stopped entirely and the workers left the site.

Across the way, a troop of archaeologists set about digging and sifting all over a now-vacant lot next to one of the most degraded structures on the site.

Talking to the regular archaeologist on site, it seems the entire effort today by the archaeologists is simply survey work in furtherance of the programmatic agreement for site preparation.