DRY STONE WORK - International Specialised Skills Institute

When Irwin was President of the local branch of the DSWA of GB the branchundertook the construction of a public seat at the Falkirk Wheel Project usingdry stone walling techniques. This also highlights another avenue for thetechnique.This seat is constructed from sedimentary sandstones. The seat constructionhighlights that if this type of project was constructed in Australia it would needto encompass using stone from either Central Victoria or Sydney sandstone orstone from South Australia sedimentary deposits. In the Australian context,cartage becomes a major consideration in the costing of the commission.Public seat, Falkirk Wheel Project, Falkirk, ScotlandAt a private residence in a small local town, Fintry, Irwin has constructed anunusual landscape garden feature of a pyramid again using sedimentarysandstone. Of particular interest is the water from an underground springwhich passes through the feature and disappears back into the ground. Theflow rates of the water vary according to the amount of rainfall. Again it wasparticularly interesting to consider another application of the use of dry stonewalling technique. This type of feature, if constructed in Australia wouldrequire a softer type of sedimentary stone such as found in Sydneysandstone.Water Feature, private residence, Fintry, ScotlandISSI Inc Fellowship Report, David Long - 2003 31