The St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, La., was built in 1793 and renovated in 1851. It is the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the United States. The cathedral’s hallmark three-spire image is ubiquitous and considered a symbol of New Orleans. Overlooking Jackson Square, it is often the backdrop for everything from live musical performances to films.
Established in 1854 near the banks of the Red River in a small town called Lebanon, Okla., sat an abandoned, two-story brick structure. It once served as a boarding school for Chickasaw Nation girls, an orphanage, then as a manual labor school where Chickasaw children learned agriculture, horticulture, homemaking, sewing, knitting, cooking and housekeeping. Steeped in Chickasaw history, the structure, named the Burney Institute, had fallen into disrepair when it was abandoned some time after 1910.
Advancements in building technologies have produced both lighter-weight materials that help reduce initial construction costs and the ability to create tighter building envelopes, which can lower lifetime energy costs. As beneficial as these overall savings are, using such technologies poses the potential for moisture damage and associated costs down the road. Fortunately, the right combination of building technologies, products and installation techniques can net the benefits of efficiency and economics while also protecting against moisture damage.
Masonry restoration and preservation are very important to the life of a building. Although building exteriors are made of durable and resilient materials such as brick or stone, they are consistently subject to weather, pollutants, ground movement and moisture. If masonry distress is ignored or not prevented properly, a building’s structural stability could be compromised.
Drainage in a masonry cavity wall is something we deal with each and every day as we construct our walls. But drainage can be complicated — from the arrangement of pipes and conduits found in the cavity and architectural features that can create obstructions, to footing step-downs due to grade differentials, insulation requirements, and anchors that can turn an “ordinary” installation into anything but ordinary.
Founded in 1863, Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., was the first public institution of higher learning in the state. The campus’ architectural style is well defined by the use of native Cottonwood Limestone in stout masonry buildings featuring arch-capped entrances and windows. Memorial Stadium was constructed as a tribute to Kansas State students killed in World War I, and is composed of two independent halves: west stadium (completed in 1922) and east stadium (completed in 1924).
Elements Paving Stones contribute beauty, elegance and high-end quality to this 17,000 square-foot residential concrete paver project on East Norport Drive in Port Washington, Wis., and helped the project earn a Silver Award in the Best Residential Driveway Application category in the Wisconsin Masonry Alliance’s 2016 Excellence in Hardscape Awards.
Cleveland has been called the City of Comebacks, and for good reason. Consider Lebron James and the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. These days, the city is becoming known for such things as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Clinic and a progressive government that sees economic development of the inner city and improvement of local education as priorities.
Mason Contractors Association of America
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Fax: 224-678-9714
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