SWCA was retained by Livingston-Associates, P.C. to develop an archaeological monitoring plan for the installation of a high-density polyethylene pipeline to provide drinking water to the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico. The purpose of the monitoring plan was to prevent delays in the construction schedule, in the event that cultural resources were encountered during construction.

 

 

SWCA's monitoring plan gave the construction contractor the ability to continue work with an archaeological monitor while additional SWCA crew recorded any archaeological features uncovered during the trenching process. While more cultural material was found than anticipated, SWCA's monitoring and data recovery solutions provided valuable savings in both project time and cost and allowed the project to stay on schedule. Two papers discussing this data recovery project were presented at a conference of cultural resource professionals, and plans are underway to design and construct a museum exhibit in Alamogordo, New Mexico, featuring artifacts and analysis from the data recovery efforts. In addition, through SWCA's nomination, the City of Alamogordo received the 2006 New Mexico Historic Heritage Preservation Award in recognition of its success in preserving and mitigating impacts to archaeological resources while at the same time staying on schedule with its water development projects.