Cairn

["Calvin Babich" <calvinbabich@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Hello All,

I have questions that possibly the stone masons and dry stone wallers on the list could help me with.  I am exploring a commission to build a five foot tall drystack stone cairn, probably in the shape of a vessel.  This would be in a temperate climate where freeze/thaw is not an issue.  The problem is that the site for the cairn floods every five years or so with floodwaters as high as four feet.  I am trying to figure out how to build this so it will last.

One idea I have had is to build on a base of concrete and to keep adding concrete to the hollow inside as I go, tying everything together with rerod.  Depending on the stone, a foot or so of progress per day is all I expect to get and the last thing each day would be to add relatively stiff concrete so that it doesn't ooze out.  I'm not in love with this concrete idea because it seems diametrically opposed to what a drystack structure is all about and it kind of takes the fun out of the work, but I want the thing to last.

So what do you think of my idea and what other solutions can anybody come up with?
Thank you,

Calvin Babich
Creations In Stone
http://www.calvinbabich.com