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Tenochtitlan Dike System
The Tenochtitlan dike system was a hydraulic engineering project built by the Mexica of the Valley of Mexico on Lake Texcoco, used to separate salt w…
Timeline
- c. 1325–1350Island of Tenochtitlan · TenochtitlanAfter founding their city on a small island in Lake Texcoco, the Mexica immediately built small enclosing dikes of stone-filled gabions, earth, and wooden stakes to check the salinization of lake water and channel fresh water around the city, solving the problems of drinking water and irrigation supply for the island city.
- 1365North shore of Lake Texcoco · Valley of MexicoIn the 1360s, after Mexica rulers expanded the city-state's territory, they extended the dike line along the north shore of Lake Texcoco and dug diversion canals, bringing fresh water from Chalco–Xochimilco into the chinampa districts around the city, while earth dikes blocked the eastward encroachment of Texcoco's salt water, forming an early zoned water-management pattern.
- c. 1450–1519Huey Atlacualco dike · Lake TexcocoThe Texcoco ruler Nezahualcoyotl oversaw the construction of a giant earth-and-stone dike across Lake Texcoco (Huey Atlacualco), completely separating the northern and southern lake basins and giving Tenochtitlan a stable fresh-water supply, marking the culmination of the dike system.
Sources
- Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs — Michael D. Coe (2008)
- Water Management in the Aztec Heartland — Jeffrey R. Parsons (1971)