USING GROUND PENETRATING RADAR TO SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF A BURIED LAKE FREIGHTER AT TIFFT NATURE PRESERVE, BUFFALO, NY

Tifft Nature Preserve has experienced several different uses given its proximity to Lake Erie and the terminus of the Erie Canal in Buffalo, NY. Completed in 1884, the City Ship Canal was used for loading of and transporting goods by lake freighters at the railhead / shipping center. Prior to 1938, one such freighter burned and sank while docked. During the 1950s, this area was used as a dumping facility, and the shipping canals were filled in with slag from the nearby ore processing facilities. It is unknown whether the burned freighter was buried during this time or removed prior to filling in of the canals. To help answer this question, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was used in an attempt to locate the potential remnants of the buried freighter.

The study site was determined by overlaying older images showing the burned freighter with present-day images. GPR data were collected along parallel transects in a 20 m X 12 m grid to cover the presumed mid-section of the freighter, and a smaller grid of data was collected to locate the bow of the freighter. Data were analyzed in both 2D transects and 3D data blocks, and it appears that the freighter is still buried below the surface. This information helps Tifft Nature Preserve to have a more complete history of their site.