This is my first post to this list, but I thought that this would be the 
ideal place to get a variety of opinions on a methodological 
question...So, here it goes!  

First, a little background on the problem. I have a site that my crew and 
I will be investigating within the next few weeks that presents a variety 
of logistical issues. The site is the former location of a half city 
block, which is presently situated on an irregularly-shaped parcel of land 
within a highly-trafficked urban setting. The lots on this half block 
contained a mixture of tenant housing and single family dwellings that 
were all consistently occupied by working-class German immigrants during 
the mid-to-late 19th century. Throughout the lots, we have located a 
mixture of features including foundations, cisterns, privies, and other 
various outbuildings. Most of the features were identified by machine-
scraping the surface and comparing what we found to a series of fire 
insurance maps.  

The shape of the parcel of land and the locations of key features such as 
privies and cisterns places some limitations on how we can approach 
excavation. Right now, it appears that bisecting the deep features through 
machine-trenching is our best bet. However, besides working in a heavily 
trafficked and highly visible location, we're also dealing with Type C 
soils, which opens up a lot of safety and OSHA compliance concerns. So, 
does anyone have any advice or guidance for dealing with this type of 
excavation? We're specifically concerned with trenching deep features, and 
how to best record stratigraphy,etc. while using shoring and sheeting? We 
know we can't open the area up for block excavation, but is there any 
other methodology or technique for dealing with deep features that we're 
not considering? Any thoughts, experience, or guidance that anyone would 
be willing to offer would be greatly appreciated!! 

Thanks, 

Jane Lee
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