Dry Stone Legacy Bridge in Perth

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Canadian Dry Stone Festival

This project is  a bit different, as this is DRY STONE WORK. There is no cement involved! It is a massive project. As part of Perth, Ontario's 200th Anniversary, they are reimagining the old swimming pool and building the Dry Stone bridge. They began July 22nd.

Perth, Ontario, was founded in 1816, after the ware of 1812 was done, by the Scottish settlers, immigrants with a bit of coin, who imported Scottish stone masons. Their work can be seen throughout the city. You can see them working to repair the old Perth Museum stone wall.

I noticed the stones in the parking lot whilst visiting the park during Stewart Park Music Festival , then realized the plan. A bit of research was easy.

The Beginning July 16th

For the Canadian Dry Stone Festival, Perth hosted 40 professional dry stone masons, from across Canada, the UK, and the US, who do this kind of work. Dry Stone Canada is one of the sponsors of the project. Students of the Heritage Masonry Program at the Algonquin College Heritage Institute are the participants. This the Facebook page for Dry Stone Canada.

stone bridge Perth

The students began in the classroom, at the Algonquin campus. They imported stones from Les Carrières Ducharme (Quarries), from the saw shop in Havelock, Quebec. The students had to shape the geometry of the main project, and create individual templates for each stone. They use only traditional chisels and mallets to cut and dress the stones in the shop.

During the Festival (July 22 - 24), the students worked with the professional wallers. Next, the students boned-in (to true and square) the large stones, and cut out geometric voussoirs of the 12-foot span arch for the bridge.  A voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.^[1]

July 29th 

I stopped for a peek. These photos are from the other side of the river. Lots of people hard at work.

 Sept. 1st

Hot, hard work!
 

Sept. 2nd

 

 Sept. 9th

 

Sept. 11

It was completed last weekend. On our way to town, Sept. 15th, we popped by.
Town staff were watering it down. There are a few things yet to be done, but it looks amazing.
There is a set of steps down to the pool.

Stone Masons in Perth

Perth has a lot of stone work. Settled by Scots in 1816, artisans and craftspersons arrived with much knowledge and many skills.
We have tons of this stone around and about. I am happy to see the creativity and the curb appeal of such work. Tracking the wall, I noticed someone working on pillars just south of Perth. He's finished the left side and has begun work on a matching wall on the other side of a driveway.

We are fortunate that many of our heritage buildings are repaired by students and staff from our local Algonquin College. I captured their work one day in town.

Algonquin Student Stone Masons from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
They were working in Perth, 2010. Repairing 1816 brick.