Ron's comments reminded me of one my early experiences working on the
Tombigbee project in Alabama in the late 70s.  I was working with UofMichigan on a
Moundville phase village, but I think everybody else was doing just about the
same thing ...  Soils were excavated en masses, literally hundreds of cubic
meters, and 100% water-screened with fire hoses, with all sediments simply being
dumped back into the river.  I doubt that any of us would get away with that
again.

High pressure water screening should still be an incredibly effective way to
process large soil recoveries, but it would entail the use of more formally
constructed sediment basins ... which, IMHO, shouldn't be that expensive or
difficult.  It should be just a question of choosing an appropriate location for
the basin ..

Mark C. Branstner
Great Lakes Research, Inc
210 E. Sherwood Road
Williamston, MI 48895
1-517-347-4793 / [log in to unmask]