DRY STONE WALLING WORKSHOP

THE INSTRUCTORS will be an international team comprised of skilled, experienced, professional dry stone wallers from Canada, Switzerland, Scotland and Australia.

THE TIME LINE is five working days and one tour day. (Cost of transportation to be shared.)

THE PROJECT to be realized will be a bowling court, a square area 100 feet on a side where several games of Bocce or Lithobolos (Bocce with stone balls) can be played simultaneously.

THE STONE to be used will be irregular fieldstone, mainly granite and limestone.

THE PROCEDURE:
Twenty roughly square blocks selected from the quarry will be delivered to the site prior to the Symposium and arrayed in symmetrical fashion to delineate the square plaza.

The four largest of the blocks would be placed at the corners and four (sixteen in all) spaced evenly blocks aligned on each side between the corner stones.

On each side of the square thus formed there will be five spaces between the six stones (two corner stones, four blocks).

The middle space on each side would be open for access to the plaza via a ramp.

A dry stone wall, 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, would be built between blocks defining the other four spaces.

Each wall would be approximately 16 feet in length; there will be 16 wall sections in all.

Workshop registration will be limited to 32 students. There will be four instructors (a ratio of one to eight has proven to be effective).

Two workshop students would be assigned to each wall section and work as a team. Each day (or possibly each half day) the students will rotate positions so that the make-up of the teams will change. (Working in teams is good, we've discovered, because the team members can discuss the what, how and why of things.)

Each instructor will be in charge of the four teams working on one side of the square. Each day the instructors will rotate around the square, so that each student will work for one day under each instructor.

Four days should be enough to complete the 16 sections of wall. On the fifth day the sides of the ramps would be built, the remaining stone spread around the surface of the plaza (a single layer would be ideal) and earth brought in and spread over the stones to a level of not more than 18 inches.

The resultant surface would be slightly crowned for drainage and compacted. Then, let the games begin!

The day after the workshop finishes, September 10th, those who wish to take the DSWA initial level certification test will have the opportunity to do so. On his brother's farm a mere 18 miles from Barre, Master Dry Stone Waller Dan Snow will be administering the test.

*Total length of wall would be approximately 156 linear feet. Total volume of walls would be approximately 936 cubic feet, which is approximately 77 tons. 100 tons of stone should be placed in the center of the defined space.