Ancient Water Engineering – Mesa Verde & Machu Picchu
Ken Wright and Andrew Earles

This seminar will provide highlights of more than 20 years of engineering research at Mesa Verde 
National Park in Southwestern Colorado and Machu Picchu in Peru.  The Ancestral Puebloans at Mesa 
Verde and the Inca at Machu Picchu constructed amazing public works projects to manage water in 
challenging environments. Sites at Mesa Verde including four ancient reservoirs and a cistern 
will be presented, as well as research on the water collection and distribution system and 
geotechnical engineering at Machu Picchu. The presentation will include discussions of planning, 
engineering and institutional aspects of these great engineering projects.

Bio – Dr. Andrew Earles, P.E., Vice President of Water Resources, Wright Water Engineers, Inc. 
(WWE) - Andrew is a registered P.E. In Colorado and several other states.  Andrew has been with 
WWE for 17 years and manages projects related to hydrology, hydraulics, stormwater management and 
other water resources topics. Andrew also conducts engineering work around the world for research 
and protection of cultural and historical sites and has worked on projects in Peru, Myanmar 
(Burma), China, Cambodia, and Thailand, including several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.