Projects - Infrastructures
Civil Engineering: Drainage Design & Erosion Control

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Canyon, NM

RMC Consultants, Inc.
Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo Del Arroyo, built by the Chacoan People about 1,100 years ago, is situated adjacent to Chaco Wash near Nageezi, New Mexico. The wash bed has moved considerably in the last 500 years, threatening the stability of this National Historic Monument. Because of our environmental sensitivity, aesthetic and creative design approach, LORIS was brought in to assist the environmental engineers, RMC Consultants, to prepare their site assessment.

LORIS prepared a cost analysis and construction feasibility analysis for proposed remedial work. The project was made complicated remote location, lack of suitable materials, structural fragility and sensitive site. Material sources are further restricted by the large amount of federal and Native American lands surrounding the park.

LORIS devised construction schemes to take into account the remote location, historical and environmental sensitivity. Our schematic construction plans evaluated various access routes to the site, avoiding numerous smaller historical sites that parallel the wash banks. The plans addressed the masonry structure's sensitivity to vibration by identifying allowable distances away from the pueblo that various equipment and construction techniques could operate, and also include stream bank stabilization consisting of riprap, gabion mattress, or soil cement. Aesthetic treatment, that would allow each option to fit in with the natural surroundings, was also proposed.