Masonry Magazine October 1994 Page. 14
Paving Stones &
Retaining Walls:
An Overview
Both paving stones and segmental retaining walls are flexible systems, able to move with freeze/thaw cycles with no adverse effects. They are proven systems that offer years of functional serviceability and distinct beauty.
ACME'S hard fired brick pavers.
Paving stones and segmental retaining wall systems, as we know them today, represent some of the most technologically advanced products in the construction industry. Throughout the U.S., there are hundreds of different stone shapes and wall systems available to architects, planners, builders, contractors and homeowners.
The concept of interlocking stones is not new. It dates all the way back to the Roman Empire. The Romans developed a road building concept of a flexible pavement for their highways. The pavement was constructed on a base of crushed stone which was compacted to create the total consolidation of all base particles, next they placed a thin layer of very small stone (torpedo sand) and finally they placed hand cut granite stones laid tightly together on that layer of small stone.
The placed granite stones formed a very durable paving surface which proved to provide extremely long lasting roadways. So durable in fact that some of these roadways are still in use today.
Throughout history man has used traditional clay brick shapes in different forms for roads, walkways, patios and even flooring, but approximately thirty-five years ago the Germans developed the concept of concrete paving stone production. This innovation in concrete technology was the beginning of the modern concrete paving stone as we know it today.
As concrete paving stones' popularity advanced throughout all of Europe, so did the manufacturing technology. These advancements brought concrete pavers to Canada and ultimately, with both Canadian and European efforts in the mid-1970's, concrete paving stones were introduced in the United States.
Usage continues to grow
Americans welcomed the new European concept of concrete paving stones and each year their usage has continued to grow. The only twist in our acceptance to the product, is that in Europe paving stones are thought of as a viable form of pavement first and a product of beauty second, while the vast majority of Americans that are using paving stones today think of