Why is Novum Wall a Good Solution for Lake Walls?

If you own a lakefront home or are a contractor/installer specializing in marine walls, you know that protecting the shoreline is an essential but challenging task. Water is many wonderful things, but it’s also one of the most destructive forces on our planet. When safeguarding lakefront property from the persistent threat of erosion, employing a durable, versatile, and efficiently installed solution can make all the difference. Read on to learn why Novum Wall makes excellent marine barriers, particularly on inland lakes.

What is Novum Wall?

Novum Wall is a machine-set concrete segmental retaining wall (SRW) system. It fuses the deeply grooved beauty of natural stone and the lifetime durability of wet cast concrete in stout but workable ±610 lb (±277 kg) blocks installed with compact machinery and small crews.

Novum Wall is produced and sold by an ever-expanding network of local manufacturers and is supported by a team of technical experts and comprehensive design and installation resources.

Functional Faces

Novum Wall features three deep, richly textured faces created directly from the surfaces of quarry-cut stone. The stacked fieldstone look of Alpine, the naturally irregular edges and thicknesses of Ridge, and the comfortable symmetry of Summit ensure a fit for every project’s style. But the textures don’t just look terrific, they serve an important purpose in marine wall applications.

Shoreline erosion and marine wall failures can generally be traced back to a single root cause – unchecked wave action. Novum Wall’s deep textural elements help break up wave action and slow down water flow, rather than merely reflect it like steel sheet or wood pile walls might.

Lifetime Durability

All Novum Wall blocks are crafted with air-entrained architectural-grade wet cast concrete in completely controlled conditions. Air-entrained concrete contains microscopic air bubbles intentionally added during mixing that help concrete resist freeze-thaw damage and scaling.

Wet cast concrete has lower porosity than dry cast concrete segmental retaining wall (SRW) blocks. This reduced porosity prevents water from entering Novum Wall blocks, ensuring they last significantly longer than dry cast blocks, especially in submerged applications like lake walls. Novum Wall also has an advantage in marine scenarios over wood pile walls, which offer limited strength compared to concrete and are susceptible to decay and pest damage.

Simpler Installation

Lakefront property often comes with premium pricing, so it’s fair to expect property owners to maximize their parcels. This leads to lakefront homes being constructed very close to property lines, limiting large equipment access to the shoreline. Equipment and materials are often placed on barges and floated to the project site, as with steel sheet pile walls that typically require large cranes outfitted with vibratory hammers to install. Barging in materials and equipment can substantially increase project costs.

Novum Wall blocks’ manageable size allows them to be transported and installed with smaller equipment like skid-steers, mini-excavators, and sub-compact utility tractors. This increases the likelihood that the project site can be accessed from land and helps keep installation costs lower.

Protecting lakefront property requires durable, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing solutions, and Novum Wall checks all those boxes. Combining the natural beauty of stone with the longevity of air-entrained wet cast concrete, Novum Wall stands as a superior choice for marine walls on inland lakes. Its manageable block size simplifies installation, even in challenging sites with limited access, while its textured faces not only enhance visual appeal but also reduce the impact of wave action to mitigate erosion. Whether you’re a homeowner or a contractor, Novum Wall provides a practical, long-lasting, and visually striking option to safeguard your shoreline investment.