Building Material-1

STONE
(CHAPTER-1)
 Building Materials

Material which is used in the construction of

engineering structures, in one form or the other, is
called building materials or engineering materials
 Stone
Stone is a natural material of constructions obtained
from rocks which are from the earth’s crust having
no definite shape or chemical composition but are
mixtures of two or more minerals.
 Stone
The rock quarried from quarries is
called stone. Quarried stone may be in
the form of stone blocks, stone
aggregate, stone slabs, stone lintels,
stone flags, etc.
Following are some important uses of stones in
engineering field:
• Construction of residential and public
buildings.
• Construction of dams, harbors, abutments for
bridges, etc.
• Used as road metal and railway ballast.
• Used as aggregate for concrete. Etc.
 Classification of Rocks

The rocks from which stones are classified in the

following four ways:
• Geological
• Physical
• Chemical
• Classification based on hardness of the stone
 Geological
BASALT

Igneous rocks
BASALT
• Igneous rocks- formed by cooling the
molten lava on or inside the earth’s surface
during the volcanic eruption.
• The portion of lava- comes outside-cools
quickly and forms the rock of non-crystalline
nature-called as trap or basalt.
• The portion-inside the earth undergoes
cooling at a slow rate and results in
formation of rock of crystalline variety
known as granite.
GRANITE
Geological
• Sedimentary rocks:
Formed by gradual deposition of
disintegrated rocks (due to the
atmospheric action such as rain,
wind and temperature),
vegetable matter and clay at the LIME STONE
bottom of rivers, lakes or sea.
eg: limestone and sandstone.

SANDSTONE SANDSTONE
 Physical

Physical classification: Stones and rocks are

classified into two types and they are:
– Stratified rocks
– Unstratified rocks
• Stratified rocks: these are rocks which exhibit
distinct layers that can be separated in layers.
Limestone, slate, sandstone etc are the examples of
this type.
Geological
• Unstratified rocks:
these rocks do not show any sign of strata and cannot be
easily split into slabs. Examples are granite, trap, marble etc

MARBLE

GRANITE
 Chemical
• Chemical classification: Based on constituents
(in the rocks). Chemically the rocks are
classified as:
– Silicious
– Agrillaceous
– Calcarious
• Silicious: Main constituent-silica. Rocks are very hard
and durable-not affected by weathering agencies. Eg:
sandstone, quartzite, granite, trap, basalt etc.
• Agrillaceous:Main constituents- clay or
aluminia.Rocks are hard, dense and brittle in nature.
eg. slate, laterite etc.
 Chemical
• Calcarious rocks: These rocks have calcium
carbonate or lime as their leading constituents. Eg:
limestone, marble, dolomite etc.

Classification based on hardness of the stone

Very hard rocks: Granite, taconite etc.

Hard rocks: Basalt ,trap, quartzite etc.

Medium rocks: Dolomite, Limestone etc.
Soft rocks: Talc, gypsum, sandstone etc.
 Qualities of good building stone:
Following are the desirable qualities of a good building
stone.
1.Appearance: The stones to be used for face work should be
good in appearance, uniform in color and free from clay holes,
spots of other color, bands etc.
2.Durability:
Following atmospheric agencies affect durability of a stone
•Chemical agencies such as dissolved gases in rains.
•Wind with high velocity
•Alternate conditions of heat and cold.
•Alternate conditions of wetness and dryness.
•Growth of trees and other creepers in the joints between
others etc.
 Qualities of good building stone:
3.Crushing Strength: A good structural stone should possess
crushing strength greater than 100N/m2 because usually
stones are subjected to compression.

4. Dressing: Stone should be easily carved, cut, dressed or

moulded. Hence the art of shaping a tone is known as
dressing stone should possess uniform texture and softness
so that they may be easily dressed.

5. Hardness and toughness: Stones must be adequately

hard and tough so that they may resist wear n tear. Hardness
may be tested by scratching with a pen knife which should not
be able to produce an impression on hard stone like granite.
 Qualities of good building stone:
6. Porosity and absorption: porosity (which is decided by the
number of pores) exists in all the stones but if it is present in
greater extent it makes the stone unsuitable for building
construction because during rain, water seeping into pores
contains acids and fumes which destroy the stone, when the
climate is cold, water entering the pores may even freeze and split
the stone.
7. Resistance to fire: For resistance against fire, the stone:
Should have homogeneous composition
Should be free from calcium carbonate or oxide of iron.
8. Cost: Cost is an important consideration in the selection of
building stone. Cost of a stone depends upon the ease with which
it can be quarry to the place of use and the transportation facilities
available.
 Qualities of good building stone:
9.Seasoning: Good stone must be free from quarry sap. To
ensure this, the stone after quarrying and dressing should be left
for a period of 6 to 12 months for proper seasoning before using in
construction work.
10. Weathering: a good building stone should possess good
weathering qualities. It should be capable of withstanding adverse
effects of various atmospheric and external agencies such as rain,
frost, wind etc.
 Different test for stones
1. Smith’s test
2. Freezing and thawing test
3. Frost action test
4. Acid test
5. Water absorption test
6. Microscopic examination
7. Impact test
8. Attrition test
9. Crushing test
10. Crystallization test
11. Hardness test
 Decay of stones:
1. Temperature variation
2. Wetting and drying of stone
3. Frost action
4. Polluted atmosphere
5. Living organisms
6. Vegetable growth
7. Rain water
8. Wind
9. Water.
 Preservation of stones:
Durability of stone increases to a considerable extent if it is properly
reserved. Preservation means making the stone strong enough to
face the atmospheric agencies which are the root cause of its
deterioration and can be affected in the following ways:
 Filling up the stone pores.
 Providing the stone with a coat of preservative to prevent the ingress of
moisture into pores.
 Binding material with no adverse effect on a particular stone should be
employed.
 Growth of plants and trees on the stone should be checked.

Some of the preservatives are:

– Coal tar
– Linseed oil
– Paint
– Solution of alum (aluminum sulphate) and soap.
Quarrying of stones
-The only operation involved in the production of
natural stone is the quarrying process
-The open part of the natural rock from which useful
stone is obtained is called quarry.
 Selection of quarry site:
• Distance of quarry from railways, road etc. should not be
very large.
• Availability of equipment, labor available nearby also
affect
• Sufficient stone should be assured
• Quality of stone should be good
• Adequate facilities for transportation
• Drainage from quarry should be easy
• Quarry should be far from built up areas
Different Quarrying Tools:

DIFFERENT QUARRYING TOOLS

 Methods of Quarrying:
Different methods of quarrying are:
• By digging
• By heating
• By wedging
• By blasting
By digging: Digging or excavation of stones is employed
when stones to be quarried are lying buried in earth
or under loose overburden.
Shovels, pick axes, hammers and chisels etc are used of
for the purpose.
 Methods of Quarrying:
• Heating method:
-In this method fuel is collected on the exposed surface and
fire is burnt for several hours continuously. Due to unequal
expansion of rock, it gets separated from the cold mass with
dull noise.
-The detached portion is then removed with the quarrying
tools and then broken into small pieces as per requirements.
-Use of this method is restored to only for those stones which
are required in small pieces to be employed for road metal,
railway ballast and aggregates.
 Methods of Quarrying:
• Wedging:
-Done by inserting steel wedges and into
vertical fissures in rocks and by
hammering.
-Usually, 10 to 15 cm vertical holes are
made in rock at certain (about 10 cm
apart) intervals and then wedges are
inserted by hammering.
-The rock cracks along the line of least
resistance through holes and with the
help of crowbars and rollers are taken
out.
- employed for sedimentary rocks and
other soft rocks like sandstone,
limestone, slate, marble etc.
 Methods of Quarrying:
• Blasting: Method of quarrying
stones with explosives.
-Blasting is chiefly employed in
quarrying and removing
stones and rocks.
-The operation involved in
blasting are boring, charging,
tamping and firing.
-Blasting may some times have
to be done to excavate
foundations for buildings road
structures in rock works and
for tunneling
 Artificial stone
Artificial stone is nothing but hardened plain cement concrete, molded in
required shape and size, some times with coloring agent or ingredient to
achieve desired shade of structure.
- Artificial stone-consists of 1.5 parts coarse aggregate of size 3mm to 6mm
and 1.5 parts of fine aggregate of size less than 3mm.
Advantages of artificial stone:
• Can be cast in any shape and size
• Strength can be increased than natural stone
• No natural bed so they can be used in any position
• Easily molded and seasoned
• Not required dressing
• Can be designed for any strength
• Can be cast in economical sizes and handled easily
• More durable than natural stone
• Require no transportation as they can be cast in site
• Normally they don’t have any defects
 Dressing of stone
Dressing of stones is a process, carried out with the help
of hand tools, to give proper shape and surface to the
stone.
Following are the purposes of dressing:
• To get good appearance of the stone masonry
• To suit to the requirement of stone masonry
• Transportation of stone easy and economical from the quarry
• To take the advantage of the softness due quarry sap
 Methods of dressing:
• Pitched faced
dressed: In it
edges shall be
made level to a
minimum width of
2.5cm and shall be
absolutely square
with the end of
stone. Superfluous
stone on the face
shall be allowed to
remain there and
left raised.
Methods of dressing:
• Hammer dressed,
hammer faced, quarry
faced or rustic faced: It
has no sharp or irregular
corners and has
comparatively even
surfaced so as to fit well in
masonry. Hammer
dressed stone also has
rough tooling for a
minimum width of 2.5cm
along the four edges of
face of stone.
Methods of dressing:
• Rock faced and chisel
faced: it has a minimum
2.5cm wide chisel draft at
four edges. All the edges
are at the same plane.
Superfluous stone at the
centre shall be removed
by pitching tool or
scrapping hammer.
Methods of dressing:
• Rough tooled: Edges and corners of it are made perfectly square
and true. Rest of it has series of bands 4 to 5 cm wide, more or
less parallel to tool marks over surface. These bands may be as
desired be vertical horizontal or inclined at 450. Rough tooled
stones are used when a fairly smooth surface finish is desired.
Methods of dressing:
• Punched dressed: A rough tooled surface is further dressed by
making parallel cuts with chisel. When a straight edge is held
against its surface a depression of not more than 2mm is
permissible. These stones are used when uneven surface is
required.
Methods of dressing:
• Close picked dressed: a punched stone is given a further smooth
finish with chisel cuts. Not more than 1 mm gap should be left
between the surface and a straight edge held against it. This finish
is also known as sparrow finish or three line dressed.
Methods of dressing:
• Fine tooled: Close picked stones are further dressed for Ashlar
work. All projections are removed and a fairly smooth surface is
obtained. There are not more than 3-4 lines per centimeter width
of surface.
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Granite:
– Composition: It is igneous rock. Its main constituent mineral are
quartz, felspar and mica.
– Characteristics
• Its specific gravity is 2.64 and absorption less than 1%
• Significantly strong and durable
• Finely grained granite takes a fine polish
• Crushing strength varies from 110 to 140 N/m2
• It has least fire resistance as it cracks under a strong fire.
– Uses
• Finely grained granite is suitable for ornamental columns, plinth etc as it
takes a polish
• Granite is considered most suitable for construction of sea walls, light
houses, bridge piers etc
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Basalt or Trap
– Composition: it is an igneous rock (silicious variety). The
main constituents are silica, alumina and felspar.
– Characteristics
• Very hard and tough
• Heavier than granite
• Has greenish grey to dark grey color
• Crushing strength varies from 70 to 80 N/m2
• Specific gravity is 2.96
– Uses
• Suitable for paving sets and as a road metal
• Used for the manufacture of artificial stone
• Used as aggregate in concrete
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Sandstone
– Composition: It is a sedimentary rock of silicious variety. It contains
sand or quartz cemented by lime, mica, magnesium, aluminum, etc.
– Characteristics
• Its structure shows sandy grains
• Its usual colors are white, grey, brown, pink etc.
• Its specific gravity is 2.25
• Crushing strength varies from 35 to 40 N/m2
• Fine grained stones are strong and durable
• Its durability depends upon the nature of cementing material. The
quantity of sandstone is poor if it is porous or contains lime.
– Uses
• Fine grained and compact variety is suitable for ashlar work, mouldings,
carvings etc.
• The rough and coarse grained stone is employed for rubble work.
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Limestone
– Composition: It is sedimentary rock of calcarious variety. When in pure state
it contains CaCO3 but frequently is mixed MgCO3 and small amount of silica
and aluminia. When both MgCO3 and CaCO3 are present in equal proportion
it is known as “Dolomite”.
– Characteristics
• Its specific gravity is 2.6
• It is available in brown, yellow and dark grey colors.
• Its crushing strength is 52N/m2
– Uses
• It is used in large quantities in bleaching and other industries.
• Fine grained and compact limestone is used as stone masonry for walls
and paving set in floor.
• It is used as road metal.
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Marble
– Composition: it is metamorphic rock of calcarious variety. It is changed
from limestone. It is crystalline hard compact stone having CaCO3 as
the main constituent.
– Characteristics
• It is available in white, yellow, grey, green, red, blue and black colors.
• It is very hard and takes a fine polish
• Its specific gravity is 2.72
• Crushing strength varies from 50 to 60 N/m2
• It can be easily worked.
– Uses
• It is used for carving and decorative work
• It is also used for step, wall linings, electrical switch boards, table slabs
and columns.
Common building stones, their composition,
properties, uses and occurrence
• Slate
– Composition: It is a metamorphic rock. It is composed of alumina
mixed with sand or carbonate of lime.
– Characteristics
• Its specific gravity is 2.8
• A good slate is hard, tough and fine grained. It has grey or dark blue color.
It can split into thin sheets
• Its crushing strength varies from 60 to 70 N/m2
• When struck with a light hammer it produce a sharp metallic ring
• It is non-absorbent
• Its durability is good
– Uses
• Used for making electrical switch boards
• Because of its non-absorbent property it is used for making cisterns,
urinals, partition walls etc.
Thank you
Stone Quarry
 Stone Quarry……………

Tools Used For Quarrying:

 Stone Quarry……………

Quarrying by Blasting
Quarrying by Wedging
Stone Dressing
Stone Dressing Tools

Different types Chisels

 (Dressing Methods)
Pitched Faced Dressed:
Hammer Dressed
Rock Faced and Chisel Dressed
Rough Tooled
Punched Dressed
Close picked Dressed
Fine Tooled
Granite
Basalt
Sandstone
Limestone
Marble
Slate
THANK YOU