The retaining wall at the front of our house was installed about 7 years ago. It was made from thick treated pine sleepers which are meant to last about 15-20 years. This is not the case in Maleny. Because of a number of seasons of very heavy rain some of posts were showing signs of wood rot. Fiona and I decided to rectify the situation by building another wall in front of the old one. The new galvo coated steel posts would provide addition support for the old wall; and the support for the new one. We also needed a return on the new wall to protect the old one from the elements.
Inspired by rusted walls we saw at MONA in Tasmania we decided to design and build a Corten steel wall that would rust. When I say build I mean: we design; the steel fabricator does the cutting and bending; and some ace carpenters and steel erectors erected the wall.
So the series of photos that follow show the newly erected wall.
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Corten steel wall - all the bolts line up |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Fiona walks the wall |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - The wall and some rocks removed from post holes |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - One beautiful corner |
And some that show rusting process that has already started.
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Corner begins to rust |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Rust on the edge |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - A little negative space |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Rust on a bend |
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| ©2014 Barry Smith - Rusting end |
We love this wall already - one very long (27-28m) sculpture on our block. It was really worth the effort.
