Stately Scapes - Articles

Cambria Paver Combines Elegance and Ease of Installation

Cambria is a standard 60mm (2-3/8”) concrete paver with four different sizes: 4”x8”, 8”x8”, 8”x12” and 12”x12”.
Photo: Courtesy of Red River Hardscapes

Red River Hardscapes® has released the new Cambria interlocking concrete paver. Cambria is manufactured in four sizes and 15 different surface textures, combining the beautiful elegance of a multi-surface paver with the ease of installation of a large-scale paver. Surface textures range from dimpled to slate-grained.

Red River Cambria is installed in a random modular pattern and all four sizes are available on one pallet so installers do not have to order multiple pallets to get what they need. Cambria is simply ordered by the total square footage required for the project.

The larger scale of the Cambria allows hardscape contractors to install more square footage per hour compared to traditional sized pavers. Yet, thanks to their standard thickness, Cambria pavers are light enough so that workers can move and install with relative ease. The edges are slightly irregular and the joint spacing is larger to provide a more natural looking installation.

“My company installs approximately 30,000 square feet of pavers per year,” said Dwayne Whitson of Stately Scapes in Cookeville, Tenn. “The Cambria paver will be our number one choice. The two main reasons we will be installing more Cambria are the wider joints and larger-scaled pieces. The wider joints are easier to sweep and compact polymeric sand into, which reduces labor costs and call back issues.”

The new Cambria paver is sold untumbled but can be tumbled by special order. Cambria meets or exceeds all ASTM standards for interlocking concrete pavers. It is currently manufactured in popular colors: driftwood and mocha. Additional colors will be added in the coming months.

“Cambria rounds out Red River’s paver offerings by giving our customers a large-scale paver option,” said Mike Jones, president of Red River Hardscapes. “This is particularly appealing for larger patios, and for patios where varied surface textures are desired.”

Cambria is available now at local Red River hardscape dealers throughout the Southeast. For information on where to purchase, call (866) 694-5326 or go to the “Where To Buy” section of Red River’s website www.redriverproducts.com.

Feature article from Erosion Control magazine
"The Changing World of Retaining Walls" by Dan Rafter

Underground Parking in Virginia

When Ken Headley from WestBlock Systems says that developers are turning more frequently to pieces of land that they would have ignored just 10 years ago, he’s not kidding.

He’s also not kidding when he says that this has become a boom for the retaining wall industry.

Contractors used his company’s non-grid-reinforced modular wall system in Waynesboro, VA, to surround an underground retention pond and culvert. A parking lot, serving a new Waffle House restaurant, rests atop this underground pond.

The reason the pond had to go underground? The building site, which sits alongside a busy highway, was not large enough to support a traditional retention pond.

“It was an ideal location for the restaurant as far as commerce and traffic goes,” Headley says. “But it wasn’t ideal as far as the site itself goes. There wasn’t enough room for everything they had to build. They had to go underground, and that’s where our retaining walls came into play.”

Dwayne Whitson, owner of Stately Scapes, a construction firm in Cookeville, TN, says it took his crew about a week and a half to finish building the WestBlock wall. The crew finished the project in early January. The wall extends 1,600 feet horizontally and stands 9 feet tall. And it did require some unusual steps.

First, Whitson’s crew poured concrete for the leveling pad or footer. Crews then poured the wall. When the wall stood above the top of the culvert, crew members poured concrete from the face of the wall to a drainpipe 8 feet way. This final pour locked everything in place.

Building the wall this way resulted in a more powerful structure, without the need for space-consuming backfill to provide extra support. This was critical, because the developers already were fitting as much as they could into a tight space.

“I’ve never put up a wall system like this before. But now I wish I could put up more types like it,” Whitson says. “It’s such a solid wall. There is no chance of it ever moving. I think we’re going to see a growing need for walls like this. Developers have used up so many of the fine properties out there. Now they are looking at the secondary properties that have some issues with them. Walls like this give developers a chance to build on these secondary properties.”

Dwayne Whitson
Phone: (931) 265-3035
Fax: (931) 432-1511
Email: StatelyScapes@yahoo.com