Every day, stone foundations like those
scattered throughout much of New
England—foundations built with outdated
materials and designed to meet the requirements
of another era—are threatened by
the demands of modern times. Consider the
following scenarios:
• Taking care not to nick the old stone
foundation, the backhoe operator sets his
outrigger pads next to the building, hikes its
seven tons up into the air, and begins to cut
a ditch for a new sewer line.
• A 15-ton garbage truck squeezes into a
tiny parking lot created when an old house
was converted into apartments. The road ripples
as the truck creeps past the window wells
in the stone foundation.
• Half a mile away from