Henry,

I'm trying to assess what I see on the ground and figure out what it could have been. So far here is what I've found:

A redoubt overlooking the river on the southern edge of the site.

A slip cut at an angle through the natural levee of the river. This appears to have been cut into what once was a natural slough. It is rectangular and deep. I'm still thinking this over, but I think there is a possibility that instead of building the Chattahoochee on the bank and sliding her down into the river, Johnston built her using this large excavation as a drydock and when he was ready to launch, simply flooded it and floated her out into the river.

A ramp leading to the edge of the large slip. I assume this was to make the process of moving heavy items easier.

I know that he had both a cotton gin and a blacksmith shop on the site before the war, so I suspect these structures were incorporated into the shipbuilding operation. There is evidence of a number of different structures at the site, but it is difficult to tell what they might have been.

Dale