County: Mayo Site name: BROADHAVEN BAY
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0846
Author: Simon Ó Faoláin, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: No archaeology found
Period/Dating: N/A
ITM: E 481377m, N 838605m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.282454, -9.821722
Monitoring of inshore dredging operations took place on the eastern side of Broadhaven Bay in north-west Mayo. Included was the monitoring of geological test-trenches in the intertidal zone, where works were carried out using land-based plant. The dredger was of back-hoe type. Back-hoe dredging consists of the excavation of material, usually from fairly shallow water, using a large excavator (similar to the tracked variety used on land) equipped with a large, toothed bucket and mounted on a pontoon or ship, the excavated material being dumped into a waiting barge.
Monitoring was carried out from 4 June to 13 August 2002. For much of this time no dredging work took place owing to adverse sea conditions. Some 25 shifts were monitored. A total of 1.2km of pipeline trench was excavated. On 10 August all soft substrate had been removed from this length. An area of bedrock, c. 180m long, was subsequently blasted with explosives and removed. Nothing of an archaeological nature was observed or recovered during the monitoring of dredging.
Monitoring of geological trial-pits along the pipeline route, in the intertidal zone, was also carried out. Eight test-pits were to be dug in the intertidal zone of the storm beach at Duncarton. A pre-development geophysical survey of this area identified several magnetic anomalies, possibly of an archaeological nature. The testing of these features is the subject of a separate report (see No. 1377, Excavations 2002, 02E1148). Because of the presence of these magnetic anomalies, the three geological test-pits nearest the anomalies were not excavated.
Four test-pits were opened by tracked excavator on 3 July 2002. Nothing archaeological was encountered. A further test-pit was excavated on 8 July without any archaeology being encountered. The test-pits were excavated to a depth of 1.2–3.3m, depending on the depth at which bedrock was encountered. The excavation of four more test-pits was monitored by Sian Keith on 13 August 2002. These were positioned along the line of the first crossing-point of the pipeline, at the estuary of Sruwaddacon Bay. Again, nothing archaeological was encountered.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
