Robert Merry, an independent stone consultant and project manager who ran his own company for 17 years. He also acts as an expert witness. Here he presents his view of the stone industry this month.

Tired and weary from the 3,500mile flight, I returned from Heathrow on the Piccadilly line. It was cooler than when we left.

The tube is full of jet-lagged fellow fliers, half asleep, like me – nodding dogs on a dash board, catching ourselves instinctively before the head lolls on to the chest and dribble slides off the end of the chin.

New York was first up. Stone everywhere. The Empire State has 28,800m² of marble on the inside – Rosso Levanto and a type of Carnico, including the splendid entrance hall, with its book matched panels.

We had time to admire the marble, as the queue seemed endless. The family couldn’t quite grasp what all the fuss was about and complained. But not enough time for me – too much stone to admire.

The outside is clad in18,630 tons of Indiana Limestone, the whole building completed in a year and 45 days – a month ahead of schedule. They built the foundations and started the lower ground before the specification had been agreed for the upper floors. Now that’s team work. The Shard in London set records for safety, innovative construction methods and speed of delivery. But these boys did it 80 years earlier, no BIM… and they had to cope with that giant gorilla as well.

The ground zero 9/11 memorial ‘Reflecting Absence’ was designed by Israeli-born architect Michael Arad. Two acre-sized voids stand where the twin towers once stood, water cascading down shear granite sides into a pool some 15-odd metres below. It descends into a smaller square in the centre of each void. The depth of the inner square is seemingly infinite. The names of all the victims cut into the granite along the top, where we stood. A fitting memorial to those tragically lost both in the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Centre bombings.

Moving, but not uplifting. The bleakness I found disturbing, drawing my thoughts down into a black granite abyss at the centre. It was not a celebration of the lives which were taken by atrocious acts of violence, but a reminder that we are all psychological victims of terrorism. I was expecting something more life-affirming. But then I wasn’t there, and clearly the need for a nation to grieve collectively runs far deeper than this tourist’s comprehension.

After a couple of days trudging the steamy humid streets of NYC, we flew to Canada, Ottawa, seat of the Canadian Parliament building. A Victorian structure, mock gothic and grim. But as there was no Parliament sitting we took advantage of the free guided tours through marble floored halls (Verdi Alpi or similar with a local white marble I couldn’t identify) into the upper and lower chambers of Canadian democracy – all shining like it was brand spanking new.

It was a privilege to walk where government debated. I’ve never attempted to visit our Parliament in the UK. It’s only open to the public in the summer and on Saturdays, and costs sixteen quid to get in. That’s probably why.

On a river fishing trip a couple of days later, our boat captain talked about how he had built his house by the St Lawrence River on granite bedrock. He had employed a concrete specialist who managed to pour the foundations within an “eighth inch of level over 50 feet of bare rock”. And when they replaced the windows, “the frames were still level 20 years later”.

Normally they blast the granite flat. But he knew this was costly, inefficient and unsafe. Further down river he pointed out the bedrock had changed to limestone and construction was more difficult. I think he was pleased to tell me his was built on granite.

Despite my family’s misgivings about my running commentary on everything to do with stone, including the pinkish red granite curb stones in Ottawa – Laurentian Pink from the St Lawrence River area perhaps – there’s no getting away from the stuff, even on your annual hols.

Robert Merry, MCIOB, ran his own stone company for 17 years and is now an independent Stone Consultant and Project Manager. He also delivers training programmes on all aspects of Estimating and Project Management – details and dates are on his website. Tel: 0207 502 6353 / 07771 997621