Lower Fort Garry Stone Wall Rehabilitation
Selkirk, MB
2018
Winner of the Manitoba Masonry Award for Historic Rehabilitation
completed with CKAID
Gavin was responsible for developing and implementing a strategy to address the deteriorating limestone walls and bastions at Lower Fort Garry in order to extend the life cycle of the historic asset. Guided by the conservation principles of minimal intervention, reversibility and using the gentlest means as possible, the rehabilitation work included the replacement of 100% of the existing copings (650m), 35% of wall mortar, and 5% of wall stone. The work then included the introduction of a new Tyndall stone coping complete with overhang and drip edge to protect the walls from freeze/ thaw cycles; carefully selected mortar mixtures; installation of ‘natural’ bedded fieldstones to replace ‘face’ bedded fieldstones; and naturally occurring vertical cracks were accepted as an inherent element of the walls and carefully designed control joints were installed at these locations to accommodate movement and limit the potential of water from penetrating the wall system. All new interventions were selected to ensure the masonry work would provide technical performance, be aesthetically compatible and subtly distinguishable.