As some of you familiar with urban construction projects may know, one of the first steps in building something new in a city like ours is bringing in the archaeologists. Today, digging begins in the parking lot behind the existing Transbay Terminal, marking one of the beginning stages of the new Transbay center project, and archaeologists will spend the next couple of months sifting through the land there to make sure there aren't any important historic (or pre-historic!) items buried underneath.

The temporary terminal on the block between Beale, Main, Howard and Folsom opens August 7. The massive Transbay project, including S.F.'s first legitimately tall building, is expected to be done sometime around 2018, give or take. [Examiner]
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