ARTICLES Archives - Page 109 of 317

Beginnings

From mine shafts to subway tunnels, from fountains to swimming pools, shotcrete has long been the preferred material of construction for major projects worldwide. This process, which involves the spraying of concrete material at a high velocity onto a receiving surface to achieve compaction, offers substantial advantages over alternative approaches with respect to durability, versatility, integrity and sustainability. This has been the case ever since the technique was invented at the turn of the 20th century, yet only now are watershapers - professionals who have made concrete such a crucial part of their livelihoods - truly coming to understand and appreciate shotcrete for what it is. In this three-part series, we'll start with the story of shotcrete's origins - a tale of insight, ingenuity and entrepreneurship. Then we'll trace

Faux stones made with concrete can be a great alternative to real stone, notes Scott Cohen. But you need to be aware of a key detail in their manufacturing process -- a piece of information that will enable you to avoid costly consequences on the job site.

All Cracked Up

In recent years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the use of faux stone as well as concrete flagstones and pavers. Popular for their affordability and ease of installation as well as the ever-improving realism of their appearance, these materials are widely available for use on

Size Revisited

'Most of us are in business to earn a living,' wrote Stephanie Rose to open her Natural Companions column in the May 2005 edition of WaterShapes, 'which is probably why so many of us think of the high-end market as the place to be. . . . But when I look more closely at the work I've done through my career, I believe we might be overlooking valuable opportunities for personal and professional growth by being so single-minded in

Printed Legacy

The process of selling off back issues of WaterShapes has been a sentimental journey for me, and I know it's going to become even more so when the recycling truck shows up on June 1 to clear away all of the unclaimed copies: I love those printed relics with all my heart, and I hope I'll be packing lots of them up in the next few days and

The Aquatic Quiz #26

Zoo Project: People Will Swim with Polar Bears and Live to Tell the Tale

Up the Hill

This is another instance in pond construction in which experience is a huge advantage: When it's time to size and set things up for a long, cascading stream leading down a reasonably steep hill to a pond-free basin, there's nothing about the process that I'd like to approach without knowing

Setting Personal Standards

'I've had the pleasure of teaching hydraulics to watershapers in a variety of classroom settings,' noted Dave Peterson in opening his Currents column in the May 2010 edition of WaterShapes. 'These courses . . . ask a lot of the students who sign up for them . . . [and] I find it enormously encouraging that so many people are focused on spending the time and energy required to improve their skills and

His clients wanted watershapes without chemicals, and Randy Beard was determined to deliver. Long intrigued by the way koi ponds work, he tinkered until he developed a simple system that fills his pools with pure, clear water -- and makes a home's plants happy, too.

Chemical-Free? Really?

It started a couple years ago: More and more often, I was meeting clients who wanted great pools and spas that involved no chemical enhancement - just the water itself. These were generally people who had studied up. They had rejected dichlor and trichlor and were opposed to any kind of cyanurate presence. They'd considered saltwater pools until they figured out that chlorine was part of the package. They'd looked at ozone and were concerned

Shaken Loose

Every time there's an earthquake in any populated place on the planet, my heart and thoughts go out to those who made it through the experience and to the families and friends of those who didn't. The recent deadly quake in Nepal is another in a long line of seismic events that trigger memories of my own experiences when the ground has started