NSWS® recently completed a curvilinear freestanding wall in front of a dining hall at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH.

Working with a design created by Woodburn and Company Landscape Architecture, NSWS® custom built and installed a New England Round Fieldstone freestanding wall to frame a new brick patio installed by others. This curved stone wall will greet students every day as they exit the dining hall and serve as a bench or space to sit and study or socialize and enjoy meals or coffee.

NSWS® continues its production schedule as spring and summer are flying by.

A project in Lincoln, MA included a curvilinear New England Fieldstone retaining wall and an installation of a 4,500 gallon rainwater collection system. Addition of this retaining wall increases usable lawn area space and allows for irrigation of vegetable garden areas. The temporary fence will be replaced with a permanent decorative fence in the coming months and we will update pictures then.

A project in Stow, MA required a stacked stone retaining wall with granite steps. The wall was built custom to the client’s request to match an existing historic stacked stone wall elsewhere on the property. A mix of larger and small stacked fieldstone was used to create this stone wall. 

A project in Brookline, MA required removal and replacement of a failing fence with a beautiful granite retaining wall. Client requested a blue granite wall with exposed mortar, a look characteristic of Brookline’s old world charm. This wall design features a sloped granite and cobble stone curb and a privacy fence installed on top of the wall.

Upcoming projects in the next few weeks include a Pennsylvania Flat fieldstone retaining wall with granite steps and a New England fieldstone freestanding wall at the entrance of a new dining hall at the University of New Hampshire.

The building at 245 Summer Street in Boston has recently received the BOMA Boston TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) award.

TOBY awards are the most prestigious and comprehensive programs of their kind in the commercial real estate industry recognizing and rewarding quality and excellence in buildings and building management.

During the competitions, all facets of a building’s operations are thoroughly evaluated. Nominees are judged on everything from community involvement and site management to landscaping/grounds cleanliness, maintenance and attractiveness.

With the original design of a green oasis in an urban environment by Pressley Associates, the grounds and landscaping are maintained by our sister company – Old Village Landscape, LLC.

Congratulations to 245 Summer Street and all those involved in making that building and especially the grounds look so wonderful and award worthy.

If you haven’t already seen it on youtube, vimeo or our website…check it out here on Boston Design Guide’s Blog:

The Northeast’s leading horticulture and green industry event, New England Grows, is almost here and we are excited to be sharing the convention floor with more than 1000 other exhibitors.

Come see the latest and greatest in green industry technology, horticulture and plants, landscaping and hardscaping ideas, cutting edge equipment and much more.

Of course, be sure to stop by the NSWS® booth – #837. We hope to see you there!

Where: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston, MA (Driving directions)
When: February 1-3, 2012

Expo Hours:
Wednesday 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Thursday 8:00AM to 5:00PM
Friday 8:00AM to 3:00PM

Obviously, we believe that natural stone is a superior wall building material that is unmatched in its strength, durability and timeless beauty. The oldest stone wall has recently been discovered and has been standing at the entrance of a cave in Thessaly, Greece for the last 23,000 years.  Gave us an idea to look up some famous stone walls that have been around for a while.

Walls of Avila (Spain): Built in the 11th century, these medieval walls, almost one and a half miles long, are still in good condition today. Fourteen meters high and as much as 3 meters thick, these walls have about 90 towers and 9 entrance gates.

The Walls of Constantinople (Turkey):  The original walls were built in the 8th century BC and protected only the Greek acropolis. Constantine moved the walls further out and the present alignment was set in the 5^th century AD. They extend 6.5 km from the Golden Horn to the Sea of Marmara. Despite lack of maintenance, many parts of the walls have survived centuries and are still standing today.

The Roman Walls of Lugo (Spain):  The walls of Lugo were constructed over a period of 45 years between 265 AD and 310 AD the walls reach 10-15 meters in height, about 2 km in circumference and completely encircle the old town. The entire circuit survives intact and is the finest example of late Roman fortifications in Western Europe.

The City Wall of Visby (Sweden): Enclosing the Swedish town of Visby, this medieval wall was built in the 13^th century and substantially modified in the 14^th century. The wall is 11 meters high and 3.5 kilometers long and is still largely intact.

The Walls of Carcassonne (France): The historic French town of Carcassonne is a unique example of a double fortification with the town’s massive defenses constructed on walls dating from late antiquity to the 13^th century. Very much intact, the inner wall measures 1286 meters and has 25 towers; the outer wall, with 17 towers, measures 1500 meters.

The Walls of Dubrovnik (Croatia): These defensive stone walls have been considered to be amongst the greatest fortification systems of the Middle Ages, as they were never breached by a hostile army during this time period. The intact city walls, constructed mainly during the 12^th–17^th centuries, run an uninterrupted course of approximately 1,940 meters (6,360 ft) in length, encircling most of the old city, and reach a maximum height of about 25 meters (82 ft).

Great Wall of China: Probably the world’s most famous stone wall, the Great Wall of China, is also the world’s longest (over 4000 miles) and largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. With wall sections dating back to 208 BC, this wall is a true testament to the amazing everlasting durability of stone.

Just wanted to share a great post from a CT landscape designer who talked to us at the NE Grows Tradeshow. Now who wouldn’t like it when their product or idea is called ingenious!?

http://blog.designingeden.com/?p=222

Last year, almost 40% of our projects included replacing a failed retaining wall, some of those walls less than 10 years old. We don’t typically take photos during demolition to show the owners why the wall failed, but we constantly see the reasons and we take every precaution with NSWS® walls to make sure it doesn’t happen. And that’s why NSWS® walls come with a lifetime warranty.

This blog post is a warning to property owners everywhere that just like with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

We don’t make it a habit to criticize other contractors’ work, but we couldn’t help it in this case. This contractor can remain anonymous but it took everything I had not to knock on that poor homeowner’s door to warn them about their doomed new retaining wall that wasn’t even finished yet!

Basically, there are so many things wrong with this wall that it inspired a blog post. What most people will see as they drive past is the stone work, but what most people don’t know is the reason this stone wall is destined to fail is hidden behind it.

The effects are not immediate, this owner is probably going to be satisfied immediately after the job is finished and even pay this contractor. But the real problems will arise after just a few winter seasons.

The specific factors that set this wall up for failure in this particular case have to do with complete lack of drainage, geogrid reinforcement, footings and structural backfill, all very crucial components of a structurally sound retaining wall.

You can see from the pictures, that not a single drain pipe or weep hole was installed. No footing was installed prior to building this wall. Also, building the wall and backing it with mortar against the original clay soil will result in significant movement of this wall during the coming winter months. Furthermore, they are building this wall completely vertical with no batter to it.

Our only (very frustrating) assumption is that this contractor provided a low bid to get the job and cut costs where the customer could not see. Depending on the site, these “invisible costs” are usually about 25% of total wall cost. This company eliminated a significant amount of site work, footing, drainage and backfill requirements. Unfortunately, with none of those precautions taken, this wall will see significant differential settlement and there is no doubt in our minds that it is only a matter of time before its imminent failure.

So homeowners, please remember that just like a good book needs to have more than a pretty cover – a beautiful stone wall needs to be structurally sound to last you generations.

And for your future stone wall projects remember that even small retaining walls have to contain enormous loads and withstand our harsh New England winters.

A structurally sound retaining wall must meet the following two requirements:

1. The wall is structurally capable of withstanding the earth pressure applied to it – this means structural backfill and proper drainage and at least a 3-4° batter.
2. The foundation of the wall is capable of supporting both the weight of the wall and the force resulting from the earth’s pressure acting upon it – this means a proper footing (see our last post about footings).

And this is just another reminder that not all walls are created equal.

As spring rapidly approaches here in New England and the snow starts to melt away, we are getting many excited and anxious calls about outdoor and especially stone wall projects. One of the questions that we are often asked is “What kind of a footing is required for my wall?” So we decided to post about footings.

A footing distributes the weight of the wall over a wider area, reducing the downward pressure of the wall’s weight.  Basically, the footing transmits the load into the soil. Depending on various factors such as wall height, retaining requirements, architectural features, etc., either a concrete footing or a crushed gravel footing is usually used.

A solid concrete footing is mostly required for walls HIGHER than 4 feet. The concrete footing is typically reinforced with rebar, increasing the tensile strength of the concrete footing.

Reinforced Concrete Footing*

For walls LESS than 4 feet high, another much more economical type of footing – a gravel footing, can be used.

Crushed Gravel Footing*

For a typical 4 foot retaining wall at NSWS, we usually recommend a 30 inch by 30 inch base filled and properly compacted with approximately 24” of crushed ¾”stone or gravel. The bottom of a wall should be below grade approximately 6” or 1/10^th of the exposed wall height.

The general idea here is that any water that may penetrate the footing will travel through the crushed stone or gravel and allow the wall to remain stable.  As long as a footing remains relatively dry during the winter months, there will be no differential settling caused from the infamous New England freeze and thaw cycles.

* Source: “Stonework: Techniques and Projects” by Charles McRaven