At five feet tall, it’s no Great Wall of China, but Niagara-on-the-Lake’s new gateway to the heritage district hopes to impress visitors all the same.
Dry stone mason Menno Braam, who is building the wall, says he guarantees his work, when complete, should outlast any wall stuck together with mortar.
Braam is a certified member of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain, a UK-based charity which advances education on the ancient trade of dry stone walling.
Construction on the gateway started this spring at the corner of Mississauga and Queen streets.
The project, which has been in the planning stages for more than three years, is budgeted at nearly $265,000.
This gateway will welcome people into the Old Town with large letters reading “Heritage District.”
The wall is going to be about two feet thick at the base, tapering upwards to a width of 14 inches. The wider base prevents it from leaning over and falling down over time.
“That’s just always how they should be built,” Braam said.
He cuts each stone by hand with a hammer and chisel.
It takes a level of precision that Braam, a tradesman of 20 years, said comes with lots of practice.
After that, he said it’s about choosing stones that will offer the least resistance.
Braam said the reason dry stone walls last so long is because of the interlacing technique used to build them.
Walls built with brick and mortar form a solid piece after the mortar dries, which put them at a disadvantage as the earth underneath them shifts over time.
Dry stone walls, on the other hand, are able to flex with the movement of the ground below because they are made up of freely moving pieces.
“Picture a stack of books on something that’s breathing,” Braam explained.
“If it’s locked together with mortar, then that can crack over time,” he said.
The risk of cracking is diminished, however, if the stack can move with the earth.
Braam is a certified member of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain, a UK-based charity which advances education on the ancient trade of dry stone walling.
Gerald Kowalchuk, whose donation is funding the wall’s construction, told The Lake Report in April that he’s hopeful the project will be completed this year.
