FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Through a grant from the Getty Conservation Institute, and in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Architectural Conservation and the University of Minho (Portugal), a three year study will help the NPS identify larger-scale preservation needs at Wupatki National Monument.
Some of the identified needs include replacing previous wall supports and upgrading stabilization methods. It will also help improve cyclic maintenance materials and techniques, and ensure they are effective as the climate changes, according to the National Park Service.
Over the course of the project, researchers will conduct a detailed condition assessment of the pueblo. This will include assessments of each wall as well as assessing site-wide impacts and hazards (for example, geomorphic hazards like debris flows and movement of boulders supporting walls, seismic hazards, and climate change [more intense monsoon storms, changes to water table/soil moisture]). Structural engineers will also assess old preservation work such as rebar and beams in walls that are nearly 100 years old as well as current stabilization methods such as evaluating current mortar “recipe.”
The project will compile all of the legacy data about Wupatki Pueblo, its excavation, and stabilization history into a searchable database. This will make it easier for researchers and the NPS to understand preservation history, track work and identify problem areas, the park stated.
Information provided by the National Park Service
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Through a grant from the Getty Conservation Institute, and in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Architectural Conservation and the University of Minho (Portugal), a three year study will help the NPS identify larger-scale preservation needs at Wupatki National Monument.
Some of the identified needs include replacing previous wall supports and upgrading stabilization methods. It will also help improve cyclic maintenance materials and techniques, and ensure they are effective as the climate changes, according to the National Park Service.
Over the course of the project, researchers will conduct a detailed condition assessment of the pueblo. This will include assessments of each wall as well as assessing site-wide impacts and hazards (for example, geomorphic hazards like debris flows and movement of boulders supporting walls, seismic hazards, and climate change [more intense monsoon storms, changes to water table/soil moisture]). Structural engineers will also assess old preservation work such as rebar and beams in walls that are nearly 100 years old as well as current stabilization methods such as evaluating current mortar “recipe.”
The project will compile all of the legacy data about Wupatki Pueblo, its excavation, and stabilization history into a searchable database. This will make it easier for researchers and the NPS to understand preservation history, track work and identify problem areas, the park stated.
Information provided by the National Park Service