Summary:
Phase 1: Record and disassemble and store 55’ historic dry stone wall in preparation for multi-year municipal infrastructure project
Phase 2: Rebuild Phase 1 section at 70-degree angle from original 

Location: 
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Pittsburgh Branch
55 Gore Street, Kingston, Ontario

Players:
Client: City of Kingston 
General Contractor/Project Manager: Keiwit Construction, Oakville, Toronto, ON
Masonry Contractor: Edgewater Stonemasons (Craig Beattie), Kingston, ON
Dry Stone Consultant: John Scott, Brighton, ON

Situation: 
The Pittsburgh branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library resides in a c1860 stone house; a former farm house which holds a heritage designation. Included in the defining characteristics of the historic property is a dry stone wall which originally separated the livestock from an orchard and is represented on an 1867 map by a dotted line. The Library is on Gore Street, a dead-end road, which was the location of a new East-West bridge over the Gananoque River. To accommodate the new bridge, Gore Street was to be widened in 2022-24, through the location of the existing dry stone wall. The City devised a plan to disassemble approximately 16 metres (55 feet) from the south end of the wall, and store the stone while the infrastructure work was completed, then rebuild the wall at an angle to the original wall line such that it runs parallel to the newly widened road. 

Call for Proposal:  
The City issued a Call-for-Proposal to which three masonry contractors responded, although two declined to participate upon learning of the dry stone aspect. In the spring of 2021, Craig Beattie of Edgewater Stonemasons consulted John Scott to develop a proposal to stage, record, disassemble, store and rebuild the wall. To facilitate their timeline, the project manager split the workload into two phases; Phase 1 (Stage, record, disassemble, store, and decommission the site) and Phase 2 (Stage, prep, rebuild, and decommission). Both Phases were awarded to Edgewater Stonemasons, with the agreement that Edgewater would submit an amended price for Phase 2 work as the roadwork neared completion. 

The Phase 1 proposal included staging and exterior recording, the orderly disassembly and recording of interior data, and collection and storage of the stone in labelled, palleted aggregate bags. As Dry Stone Canada Co-operative was still at a conceptual stage in 2022, John Scott was hired as a consulting subcontractor to Edgewater. Permits, washroom and security were provided by Keiwit, however Edgewater supplied service locates and safety fencing etc. The work proceeded as follows:

Recording:
The overall layout, components and dimensions of the wall were recorded, included details such as bond patterns and variations, and suspected past repairs. The wall was divided into one metre sections, allowing each metre to be recorded individually from the east and west sides. The southern cheekend was found to be dangerously unstable and additional stabilization was applied to the south end during the recording.

Cross-Sections:
The wall was then disassembled from the south to the north in one-metre increments, to reveal cross-sections of each linear metre, showing stone orientation, through stones, hearting, etc. Each metre of stonework was collected and stored in labelled pallet bags, excluding the hearting and broken stones, which were collected in hearting pallet-bags.

Disassembly and Interior Recording:
The stacked bookend stones and copings were labelled and removed from south to north. Copings were stored separately in four labelled pallet-bags. The removal of the copings revealed a complete coverband course and each coverband stone was measured, disassembled and stored in two labelled pallet bags. The cheekend was then carefully disassembled to eliminate the threat of collapse and the interior engineering of the wall was revealed. The large corner stones were recorded and stored in a labelled pallet-bag.

Temporary Cheekend:
Once the full 16m were disassembled, a temporary cheekend was built to stabilize the open end of the remaining wall. 

Pallet Bags:
Each aggregate bag was fastened to hardwood pallets, each affixed with a metal label nailed to the pallet. Each bag contained an interior label listing the contents, and an exterior label inside a plastic sleeve. Each pallet-bag was then clinched shut with metal banding and forwarded to an area closer to the library for storage. The pallets were then mapped as to their locations and contents and listed in the final report.

Final Report:
A report was created to summarize the work done in Phase 1. This report contained the recording data and a detailed photo-account of the disassemble, findings and storage data.

A separate proposal was submitted and approved for Phase 2.  This included the layout and reconstruction of the wall, the provision of 10% replacement stone, and the provision of unique matching end stones for the new cheekend and the angle at the junction of the old and new walls. The proposal was submitted by Edgewater Stonemasons with John Scott as the dry stone consultant. The proposal was approved and Edgewater subcontracted the dry stone work to Dry Stone Canada Co-operative.

Dry Stone Canada Co-op Team:
Lead: John Scott
Waller: Scott Young
Waller: Renee Nadeau
Waller: Kenny Davies

Prep Work:
Service locates, wall layout and direction of the new wall were laid out and approved by City officials. The foundation was excavated using a mini-excavator to bedrock and 6” of Granular A gravel was placed into the trough and compacted. Pallet bags were unloaded along the respective work areas.

Reconstruction:
Foundations were built using larger stones, well fitted. Reconstruction began, reproducing the existing bond pattern with some improvements. Improvements included slightly increasing batter, optimal positioning of stones to ensure deep bonding and the elimination of running joints. Larger stones were used in the lower levels of the wall. Through stones were positioned halfway up the wall’s height at metre intervals. Coverbands were placed in the topmost course, presenting a level surface for the coping stones. A new bookend stone was placed atop the western cheekend and a new bookend stone was cut for the intersection corner, reproducing the new angle of the wall. 

Conclusion:
This project provided an excellent opportunity to test the concept of the Co-operative, as it was a registered heritage property and required concise planning with the City’s Heritage Planners and Engineers, the General Contractor and the Masonry Contractor. With the exception of one minor first aid incident, both Phases of the job went smoothly; on time and on budget. There is a third phase to this project in the future which involves the repair of the opposite end of the original wall where it encounters the library building and the accessibility entrance. Dry Stone Canada Co-operative is currently in talks with the City regarding Phase 3.

Kingston Whig Standard, Ian MacAlpine, Feb 23, 2021: Stonemasons to dismantle then rebuild dry stone wall
Kingston Whig Standard, Ian MacAlpine, Jun 22, 2023: Dry stone wall on east side of Waaban Crossing being rebuilt