Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Developers, archeologists strive for balance in progress, preservation
By KERRY L. SMITH

   There's a delicate balance between holding back development and holding onto irreplaceable history.
   In Southwestern Illinois, archeologists work hand in hand with commercial developers, trying to stay ahead of the game in terms of thoroughly analyzing tracts for buried records of civilization.
   The archeologist's greatest fear - that a developer, although unintentionally, may bulldoze through precious historical evidence - comes close to matching the developer's fear that he will discover a find after his project is already in motion.
   There is no better example of this give and take than in the American Bottoms territory across the Metro East. [continue]
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 Washington University Archeology Students at Cahokia Mounds in Southwestern Illinois
Washington University archeology students, under the guidance of Professor John E. Kelly, work through the summer at Cahokia Mounds, remapping a site once inhabited by Indian civilizations. Archeologists work in the public and private sector, preserving finds and rerouting commercial development when necessary to save historical records.
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 Washington University Archeology Students at Cahokia Mounds in Southwestern Illinois

10 years of the 'new' Clark Bridge easing traffic flow to and from Alton
By VICKI BENNINGTON

   ALTON - It's no secret that Abraham Lincoln played a major role in Illinois - in its history, its pride, its tourism and "placing it on the map." He also spent a great deal of time in Alton - participating in the famous Lincoln-Douglas debate, visiting friends and representing legal clients. But who would have thought that with a little stretch of the imagination he may have inadvertently played a role in the Clark Bridge?
   Shortly after the first Mississippi River-spanning bridge was built in 1856 between Rock Island and Davenport, Iowa, a steamboat hit the bridge and its owner filed a lawsuit. Lincoln argued for the defense and won the case with the statement, "A man has as a good a right to go [continue]
 

Passage of state bill could expedite pace of state design-build projects
By KERRY L. SMITH

   State of Illinois agencies have never been able to contract a construction project on a design-build basis.
   Until now. If Illinois Senate Bill 1497 gets Gov. Rod Blagojevich's signature, all that will change, opening up opportunities not only for the state, but also for design-build-oriented firms in Southwestern Illinois and [continue]
 

  Going underground

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The National Great Rivers Research and Education Field Station The National Great Rivers Research and Education Field Station, located near the Melvin Price Locks and Dam 26 in Alton, represents a partnership between Lewis & Clark Community College, the University of Illinois, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The facility, designed by AAIC Inc., will offer researchers and students the chance to study the ecosystems of the Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi rivers.    Courtesy of AAIC Inc.
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