Stones and water

Geraldine de Burgh-Day

If you haven’t driven along Lorinna Road, come and do it! Look at, and appreciate this amazing and beautiful structure with new eyes, and ask yourself, Is this worth preserving for our children’s future?” If you think it is, then please ask your Council to attend to its Duty of Care for such a valuable asset in our community.
THE Romans were very good at handling both! So were the Incas and the Egyptians. Of course in those days labor was not really an issue, all it took was several hundred slaves. But it was not just muscle, it was engineering and technique that have left us a legacy of dry stone roads, aqueducts, buildings, temples, theatres and even humble terraces for growing grapes.

The first time I visited the Southern Rhone area of France, I was so inspired by the terraces built along the steep banks of the Rhone, facing south (winter sun) so that each single row of grape vines were planted on a strip of level ground, and the dry stone wall behind, which supported the next terrace, sometimes up to 3 meters high, acted as a heat bank on sunny days. And these were still standing and totally functional, nearly 2000 years after construction.

The key techniques for a stable structure all were based on solid foundations, with the structural stones being carefully hand placed to key into each other at a slight batter (lean) into the load bearing side of the wall. Management of running water was critical, to ensure that water was allowed clear access to flow through stone (or pipe) culverts and away from the face of the wall. If this was not designed correctly, the water could run down through the stones and when it hit the base of the wall, it would run out between and under the base rocks. If a deluge of water was involved, it could literally slide the base of the wall off its foundation and cause a weakening of the integrity of the stone placement, or at worst, a collapse of that section of the wall or structure.

Many books have been written about dry stone walls and structures, and around the world people appreciate, value and wonder at these creations. In a small way many of us replicate our appreciation in the use of stones for ornament and structure in our gardens today.

You can imagine how excited I was to discover Lorinna Road and its hand placed stone structural walls. This was indeed created by skill and enormous hard work. In modern Australia (less than 300 years old!), to find a road constructed in this way, reminiscent of old mountain roads in Europe, some build 2000 years ago by the Romans, I was astonished! And, true to the soundness and integrity of such hand made roads, I discovered that it has stood the test of time over 80 years with tens of thousands of tones of timber and produce being carted over it to markets in the north.

In this time there have been two major problems, one some years ago, half way along near a small bridge, and one more recently beside the Tin Spur Creek Bridge. On both occasions it seems that blocked drainage from poor maintenance of drainage has led to the problem. On such a road, the old saying of “A stitch in time saves nine” in respect to basic maintenance of drainage holds true.

I know that there are some users of this road that see only it’s inconvenience in the long slow journey that it offers to the north, and have yearned for a new fast road to ‘town’. I can understand their feelings, and their dream may well come to pass in the future. Even if this should happen, and a new road is constructed, it is my view that the Municipality of Kentish is incredibly fortunate to have such a structure in its midst.

If this road is treasured for what it is, and basic maintenance is attended to, it will delight future generations and continue to service the people of Lorinna and Kentish for far longer into the future than most modern roads. To do this, an appreciation of the basic construction of the road needs to be understood, and where minor repairs are necessary they need to be done in the same way as the road was built. In addition, the drains need to be kept clear and the surface needs to direct water to these drains as the original designers planned. This is a small task, and if machinery is used instead of physical labour, it needs to be small, and skillfully operated.

I am astonished that the small bridge at the middle of the road has been recently replaced with a culvert, with some of the main structural stones in the retaining wall being pried out to make room. It seems to me that the original designers knew what they were doing by placing a small bridge at this point, and for 80 years the road at this point has handled water flow satisfactorily. If this new culvert blocks, what will happen?

Regardless of whether a new road is built or not, Kentish Council surely ought to maintain proper stewardship of this wonderful and special asset in our community for future generations. With a little care, Lorinna Road could be here 2000 years from now! I wonder how many other roads in the Municipality could hope for such a long life?

If you haven’t driven along Lorinna Road, come and do it! Look at, and appreciate this amazing and beautiful structure with new eyes, and ask yourself, Is this worth preserving for our children’s future?” If you think it is, then please ask your Council to attend to its Duty of Care for such a valuable asset in our community.