Rogers Group Experts in Crushed Stone, Aggregates, Gravel, Asphalt Paving, Road Construction, Quarries for 100 Years

Natural Limestone Retaining Walls Favored Over Concrete By Developers

- Columbia Quarry received a silver 2002 Capstone Marketing entry for this project. Congratulations to Devin Farmer, Jim Hayden, Dave Adomyetz, and the entire Columbia Quarry team!

Today stone is as popular as ever for creating a natural appearance when designing landscaping. A close cousin to the walls built by farmers and homesteaders of long ago, stacked limestone can create retaining walls that are functional, beautiful and enduring. Commercial developments that want a mature appearance in harmony with natural surroundings find limestone retaining walls very appealing.

Working closely with Retaining Walls of Tennessee, our Columbia Quarry has developed a new product that is used for building natural limestone retaining walls. The anticipated market demand for the new product is very high.

Although our customer had several specifications, one of the main requirements was consistently sized material. Each stone is hand placed and mortared when building the retaining wall. If a product is delivered with stones that must be broken again in order to be handled by a single mason, time is wasted, safety is comprised, and additional tools are needed.

Using natural limestone gives walls a unique look to an old idea.

Natural limestone walls have become popular with commercial developers for their landscaping aspects.

An aesthetically pleasing color of limestone, the ability to supply on-demand stock of material, and affordability were other customer concerns.

Working closely with Ryan Futch and Jamie Kaye of Retaining Walls of Tennessee, Devin Farmer, Senior Sales Representative, Jim Hayden, Superintendent, and the Columbia Quarry team developed a process to fulfill all the service requests.

Production of the new product required equipment to be moved that could break the stone to proper size. A new stockpile area was created for the excess inventory. Scale operators and truck drivers supplied a big plus to the customer by keeping in close contact with their field personnel.

"When the order is placed at the quarry, we usually meet someone on the jobsite for any special instructions for dumping," said Farmer.

"This enables the customer to get better placed loads of material and increase their speed of production."

"Our customer has done a good job communicating their schedule," said Hayden. "It has enabled us to keep our inventory at proper levels."

As the months of working together have unfolded, Rogers Group has gained a new, national customer. Not only are we supplying broken limestone for retaining walls, but we are also providing some foundation and backfill stone. The new product has developed into a "win-win" for both companies.