|
|
|
spark plugs and asphalt
Friday, May 18 2012
Today I undertook a project I've been procrastinating for at least two years: the rebuilding of a retaining wall keeping soil from collapsing down onto the stony entranceway to the front door of the house. That soil is part of a series of topographic changes I'd made as a result of a massive drainage project I'd completed in the Spring of 2005. In doing that project, I'd jackhammered up an ugly asphalt path and replaced it with bluestone sitting atop sand and drainage tile. Much of the old asphalt had ended up in the fill behind the retaining wall that was in need of rebuilding. It wasn't that the wall had begun to collapse, but frost heave from all those winters had opened up large cracks in it, and small stones and spark plugs had begun rolling out. (Yes, I use old spark plugs and asphalt, as well as broken pottery, for fill; I like giving future archæologists things to find.)
Today I unstacked a three-foot-long section of the wall down nearly to its base and then carefully rebuilt it with a series of better-fitting stones, some of which I'd earmarked for this project two years ago. I'm not great at building stone walls, but I'm definitely better than I was in 2005.
The way the wall had been looking earlier today.
How it looks after the partial restacking.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?120518 feedback
previous | next |
