CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS

STONES

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• STONE
 DEFINITION
 CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS
 PHYISICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF GOOD BUILDING STONES
 TESTS OF STONES
 QUARRYING AND DRESSING OF STONES
 DETERIORATION MECHANISMS OF STONES
 SELECTION OF STONES
 PRESERVATION OF STONES
 ARTIFICIAL OR CAST STONES
 NATURAL BED OF STONES
 STONE MASONRY
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Civil Engineering Uses
• Construction of residential and public buildings
• Construction of dams, weirs, harbors, bridges
abutments, etc
• Face work of structures for appearance and
ornamental value
• Road metal and railway ballast
• Aggregate for concrete
• Stone dust as substitute for sand
• Thin slabs for roofing, flooring and pavements
• Limestone for manufacture of lime, cement, etc
• DERCEASE IN USE OF STONE AS BUILDING
MATERIAL;
 EXTENSIVE USE OF RCC

 RATIONAL ANALYSIS OF RCC

 MORE ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS AVAILABLE

 ARCHETECTURE

 NON AVAILABILITY IN PLAINS

 STONE DRESSING IS TIME CONSUMING

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CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS
• GEOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION
• IGNEOUS ROCKS :(primary, un-stratified,
eruptive) – cooled down and solidified molten
volcanic lava (magma). basalts ,trap, and granite if
solidified before reaching the surface of the earth.
• SEDIMENTARY ROCKS: (aqueous, stratified) –
disintegration by wind, rain , frost and chemicals,
gradually deposited rocks under enormous
pressure, sand stones and lime stones
• METAMORPHIC ROCKS – transformed due to
great heat and pressure. granite to gneiss, lime
stone to marble, shale to slate
CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS
• PHYSICAL CLASSIFICATION
• Stratified rocks – separable distinct layers.
Cleavage plane of split visible. Slate,
sandstone, lime stone
• Un-stratified rocks – no sign of strata,
cannot be easily split into slabs. Granite,
basalt, trap
All sedimentary rocks are essentially
stratified, all igneous rocks are unstratified.
Metamorphic may be either stratified or
unstratified.
Classification of Rocks
• Chemical Classification ( based on the chief
constituent mineral)
• Siliceous rocks – containing silica SiO2 (sand)
and silicates. Granite, basalt, trap, quartzite,
gneiss, syenite, etc
• Argillaceous rocks – containing clay or alumina
Al2O3. Slate, laterite, etc
• Calcareous rocks – containing calcium
carbonate or lime as the chief constituent.
Limestone, marble.
CHARACTERISTICES OF GOOD BLDG
STONES
• APPEARANCE & COLOR – Extremely important for face
work, to go well with the surroundings, uniform color, darker
shades preferred, presence of iron oxides is undesirable,
free from clay holes, bands or spots
• STRUCTURE – Not dull in appearance, crystalline
homogenous close grained is good, stratification should not
be visible, fine grained for carving, free from cavities, cracks
or patches, easily split along planes of cleavage.
• HEAVINESS – heavier are compact, less porous, dense with
more specific gravity good for hydraulic structures, lighter for
domes, roof coverings etc.
• STRENGTH – generally compressive strength is sufficient, to
be tested for strength where bigger forces expected, igneous
rock stones are more stronger
• HARDNESS– resistance to abrasion, friction and wear, as in
floors, pavements, apron of bridges and weirs. Hardness
scale 1 to 10 14
• TOUGHNESS – Withstand impact, vibrations due to
machinery and moving loads, tough stones to be used in
road construction.
• POROSITY AND ABSORPTION – More porous not to be
used in exposed surface, absorbs rain water forming acids
causing crumbling action. Cyclic freezing and thawing of
pore water disintegrate stones.
• SEASONING –Immediate dressing carving and molding
etc, hardening and weathering affect due to evaporation of
quarry sap and formation of crystalline film. 6 to 12 months
for proper seasoning
• WEATHERING – resistance to action of weather, inspection
of ancient buildings, sharp edges corners and chisel marks
visible.
• RESISTANCE TO FIRE –To be fire resistant stones should
be free from calcium carbonate or oxides of iron and
minerals of different thermal expansion co-effecients
• DURABILITY – compact, homogenous and less absorptive
stone is more durable.
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EASE OF WORKING- To cut , dress and mould easily
is important consideration but opposite to strength,
durability and hardness.
COST – an important consideration ,quarrying,
transportation, dressing and installation

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Igneous Rocks
Red Granite

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Vesicular Basalt

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Sedimentary Rocks
Old Red Sandstone

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Red Devonian Sandstone

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Basalt and Sandstone

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Limestone and Slate

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Metamorphic Rocks
Green Slate

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Metamorphic Rocks

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Metamorphic Rocks

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Gneiss

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Granitic Gneisses

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Granitic Gneisses

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Stone Masonry

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Stone Mountain, Atlanta, USA
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 Moh’s Hardness Scale
• 1 Talc, scratched easily by thumb nail
• 2 Gypsum, scratched by thumb nail
• 3 Calcite, scratched not by thumb nail but by
knife
• 4 Fluorite, cut by knife with difficulty
• 5 Apatite, cut by knife with difficulty more than
4
• 6 Orthoclase, cut by knife with great difficulty
• 7 Quartz, not scratched by steel, scratches
glass
• 8 Topaz
• 9 Sapphire
• 10 Diamond 42
Evaluation of Stones
Tests of Stones
• Weathering test of natural building stones
• Durability test of natural building stones
• Water absorption and porosity test
• Test for determination of true specific
gravity
• Compressive strength test

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Selection of Samples for Tests
• A truly representative sample of grade of stone should
be selected
• Sample may be selected from quarried stone or
natural rock
• Separate samples weighing at least 25 kg each shall
be collected from differing strata
• Test pieces for toughness or compressive strength test
shall be at least 10.0 x 12.5 x 7.5 cm in size
• Test pieces shall be free from seams or fractures
• In case of field stones and boulders separate samples
shall be selected of all classes of stones based on
visual inspection
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Weathering Test
• Specimen
– 5 cm diameter, 5 cm high cylinders
– 5 cm cubes
– Smooth finished, edges rounded to 0.3 cm
• Three test specimens oven dried at 105 ± 5°C for 24 hrs
and cooled in desiccators down to room temp 20 to 30°C
• W1 weight of cooled and dried test piece, weighed to
nearest 0.01 gm
• Specimens submerged in water for 24 hrs at room temp
• W2 immersed and freely suspended sample weight
• Remove the specimen from water, wipe off surface water
• W3 weight after removal from water
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Weathering Test
• Place the specimen in a glass dish in solution of
25 ml of water and 2 gm of powdered gypsum
• Specimen dish kept in oven at 105 ± 5°C for 5
hrs till gypsum powder becomes dry
• Specimen cooled down to room temp 25 ± 5°C
• Heating and cooling cycle is repeated 30 times
• Specimen removed and cleaned with wire brush
• Specimen kept immersed in water for 24 hrs
• W4 weight of sample in air after 30 cycles
• W5 weight of sample freely suspended,
immersed in water

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 Weathering Test
W3  W1 W  W1
A1   100 and A2  4  100
W1 W1
W4  W3
Increase in Absorption %  A2  A1   100
W1
W3  W2 W4  W5
V1  and V2 
d d
(W4  W5 )  (W3  W2 )
Increase in Volume %   100
W3  W2
• A1 : Original absorption of specimen on 24 hr immersion in water
• A2 : Final absorption after 30 cycles
• V1 : Original volume after 24 hrs immersion in water
• V2 : final volume after 30 cycles
• D: density of water at observation temperature
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Durability Test
• Specimen
– 5 cm diameter, 5 cm high cylinders or 5 cm
cubes
– Smooth finished, edges rounded to 0.3 cm
• At least three test samples dried for 24 hrs and
weighed as W1
• Samples suspended in solution of 14% sodium
sulphate decahydrate (density 1.055 kg/m3) for 18
hrs at room temperature
• Samples air dried for 30 minutes
• Samples now oven dried for 24 hrs at 105 ± 5°C

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Durability Test
• Samples cooled down to room temperature to
complete one cycle
• Weight W2 at the end of every 5th cycle noted
and 30 cycles completed
• Durability expressed as

W1  W2
Change in Weight   100
W1
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Water Absorption and Porosity Test
• Sample preparation
– Sufficient material is crushed
– Material passing 20 mm sieve is retained
– Material washed to remove dust
• About 1 kg material is immersed and soaked in
distilled water at room temperature for 24 hrs
• Entrapped air is removed by vigorous rotational
motion
• Sample taken out of water and spread on cloth
exposed to atmosphere in shade for ten minutes
• Dry the Surface of test pieces dried with cloth

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Water Absorption and Porosity Test

• On drying of surface, sample weight W1 recorded

• Distilled water added to sample in a graduated glass
cylinder in portions of 100 ml till level of water
reaches 1000 ml mark
• Entrapped air is removed after each addition of
water
• Total quantity of added water is recorded as W2
• Sample taken out of cylinder and dried in
desiccators at 100°C for 24 hrs
• W3 recorded when sample is cooled down

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Water Absorption and Porosity Test
W1  W3
Water Absorption   100
W3
W1  W3
Apparant Porosity  100
1000  W2
W3
Apparant Specific Gravity 
1000  W2
• W1 : Initial weight of dried sample
• W2 : Weight of water consumed in saturation
• W3 : Final weight of sample after drying for 24 hrs 53
True Specific Gravity Test
• Crush 0.5 kg of thoroughly washed specimen to 3
mm size, mix and make samples of 50 gm each
• Sample ground in agate mortar to pass 150 microns
sieve
• Sample is dried at 100°C, cooled in desiccators
• Specific gravity bottle is cleaned, washed, dried,
cooled and weighed (W1)
• About 15 gms sample placed in specific gravity
bottle closed with stopper and whole weighed as W 2
• Three fourths of specific gravity bottle filled with
distilled water

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 True Specific Gravity Test
• Bottle boiled for 10 minutes while removing entrapped air
• Bottle cooled to room temperature, filled with water,
stoppered and weighed as W3
• Bottle emptied, washed, filled with only distilled water,
stoppered and weighed at room temperature as W4

W2  W1
True Specific Gravity 
(W4  W2 )  (W3  W2 )
True Specific Gravity  Apparant Specific Gravity
True Porosity 
True Specific Gravity

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Test for Compressive Strength
• Specimen Preparation
– Cube size 5 cm, cylinder diameter 5 cm, height 5 cm
– Load bearing surfaces finished as nearly true, parallel
and perpendicular planes as possible
– Loaded face dimensions measured to nearest 0.2 mm
– Specimens kept immersed in water at 20 to 30°C for
24 hrs for saturated condition testing
– Specimens oven dried at 105 ± 5°C for 24 hrs and
cooled down to room temp for dry testing
• Testing load gradually increased @ 140 kg/cm2 per
minute until break down
• Max load applied divided by area of bearing surface is
taken as the compressive strength of specimen
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Quarrying of Stones
Quarrying
• The art of taking stones of various sizes from
natural rocks is known as quarrying. Open part
of the natural rock from which useful material is
obtained is known as quarry. The method of
Quarrying depends upon the nature and
structure of rocks and the purpose for which
stones are needed.
QUARRY & IT,S LOCATION
• AVAILABILITY OF STONES IN SUFFICIENT
QUANTITY
• AVAILABILITY OF SUFFICIENT CHEAP
LABOUR
• COMMUNICATION
• POWER SUPPLY
• SUPLLY OF CLEAN WATER
• DRAINAGE
• DUMPING SITE
• NO PERMANENT STRUCTURE NEARBY
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 Quarrying Methods
• Digging or Excavating Method. Stones lying
buried in earth or under loose over-burden may
be dug using manual methods like crowbars etc
• Heating Method. Rock surface is heated for
several hours resulting into uneven expansion
and consequent separation of the upper and
lower layers
• Wedging Method. Layered rock is split at
cleavage or seam using steel wedges and pins
• Blasting Method. Hard and compact rock is
blasted out using explosives techniques
comprising boring, charging, tamping and firing
Quarrying Methods
• Excavating. The method is employed when stone to be
quarried are lying buried in earth or under loose overburden.
Shovels, pick axes, hammers and chisels etc are made use
of for the purpose.
• Wedging. This method is suitable for quarrying soft
stratified rocks. The operation is started near a vertical face
in the absence of which one is created by cutting a channel
in it. Then 10 cm to 15 cm deep holds about 10 cm apart are
bored or drilled along the boundary of the slab to be
quarried. Steel plugs are then struck with heavy hammers
called sledge hammers simultaneously in all the holes in a
row. Use of steel feathers with plugs is to be preferred. It will
split the slab along the line of holes drilled. Wedges placed
at the joints of two layers will detach the slab completely.
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Heating. This method is suitable where only smaller
blocks of more or less regular shapes are required
and suitable rocks bedded horizontal layers of not
much thickness are to be quarried. It consists in
piling a heap of fuel on a small area of the exposed
face of rock and burning a steady fire for some
hours. It results in uneven expansion because of
unequal heating of the two layers and consequent
separation of the upper and lower layers. Electrical
heating can also be done to separate the two layers.

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• Blasting. It is quarrying stones with explosives. Blasting
may some times have to be done to excavate foundations for
buildings road structures in rock works and for tunneling. The
operation for blasting constitutes the boring or drilling of
holes, charging them with some suitable explosive and then
firing of the charge various implements used in quarrying are
the jumper or boring bar, scraping spoon, priming needle and
the tamping bar. The diameter and the depth of each hole
depends upon the quantity and nature of rock to be loosened,
the type and the quantity of explosive used. The holes are
charged with the right quality of explosive to be used. The
hole is filled in layers with burnt clay powder. Each layer is
well tamped with a brass tamping rod before the next layer is
put in. Temping should be done extremely well, sufficient
length of the fuse is left out side the dole so as to enable the
person igniting it to retreat to a place of safety before the
explosion take place.
Quarrying
Tools

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Blasting Procedure
• Boring. Drilling of holes in rock using jumper,
manual drilling or machine drilling using pneumatic
or mechanical power
• Charging. Placing of required quantity of explosive
charge in the hole at desired location. Quantity
depends upon explosive strength, blasting method,
number of holes, type and mass of rock
– Gunpowder or Dynamite explosive (gms) = Square of
length of line of least resistance (m) / 0.008
• Tamping. Placing of priming charge, detonation
cable (cordite), and sealing off the escape of gases
• Firing. detonation mechanism (electrical or non-
electrical detonators) or fuse ignition

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 Blasting Precautions
• Blasting should not be carried out in late evening or early
morning. Blasting should be made public with sufficient time
allowed to retire to safe distance
• 200 m radius danger zone should be marked with red flags
• First aid should be made available
• Proper record of number of charges prepared, fired and
exploded to account for misfires
• Explosive should be handled carefully
• Detonators and explosive should not be stored and kept
together
• Cartridges should be handled with rubber gloves
• Maximum of 10 bore holes should be exploded at a time and
that too successively and not simultaneously
Natural Bed of
Stones
It is the plane or bed on
which the stone was
originally deposited.
Natural bed has an
important effect on the
durability of stone. Stones
should always be placed in
such a manner that the
natural bed is at right
angles to the pressure that
the stone is to carry. 70
Deterioration of Stones
• Rain.
– Physical Action. Disintegration, erosion,
transportation due to alternate wetting and
drying, producing internal stresses.
– Chemical Action. Decomposition, oxidation and
hydration of minerals due to acids formed with
rain water
• Frost. Water entering the pores, freezes, expands
and creates cracks
• Wind. Abrasion due to wind carried dust, forces
rain water into pores
• Temperature Changes. Expansion and
contraction affects on minerals of different
coefficients of linear expansion 71
• Atmospheric Impurities. Smoke, acidic gases,
chemical reactions.
• Nature of Binding Materials.
• Temperature Variations.
• Vegetable growth. Roots of trees and weeds in
cracks and fissures, dampness , organic and acidic
matters.
• Chemical Agents. Smokes, fumes, acids and acid
fumes from atmosphere
• Mutual Decay. If materials having different physical
characteristics are used together, then they may
mutual decay. For example sand stone used under
limestone or granular lime stone with magnesium
lime stone.
 PRESERVATION OF STONE WORK
• Initial selection – It is much better to initially use a durable
compact and crystalline stone rather than to depend upon
preservatives later.
• Seasoning – Seasoned stones are less liable to deterioration
due to frost and acids. Seasoned stone will increase the life of
structure.
• Size – Bigger size stones are more durable than the smaller
one’s.
• Natural bed – Care should be taken to place the stones so
that loads act at right angles to the natural bed of stones.
placing on natural bed provides greater strength , in other
direction effects of rain and frost are more detrimental.
• Surface finish – Well dressed, smoothly finished and polished
surface are more durable than the rough one’s.

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Workmanship – Good workmanship helps in the
preservation of stone work. All joints to be filled leaving no
cavities in masonry
External rendering – pointing or plastering to stop rain
penetration
Proper maintenance – washing, removing dirt and dust with
water or with steam
Application of preservatives – eliminate cause of
deterioration rather than use of preservatives.

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 Artificial Stone
• Definition - Building material made with cement,
sand and natural aggregates of crushed stone for
use in place of natural stone
• Properties
– Made with white cement, sand and natural
aggregates of crushed stone
– Molded into most intricate forms
– Cast into any size
– Reinforced to desired higher strength
– Desired coloring may be achieved
– Desired finish may be achieved
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Artificial Stone
• Concrete block. Cast in molds for steps,
window sills, masonry work, etc
• Ransom stone. Soda silicate plus cement for
decorative flooring
• Victoria stone. Granite pieces immersed in
soda silicate for two months
• Bituminous stone. Provide noise, wear and
dust resistant stone surfaces

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Artificial Stone
• Imperial stone. Crushed granite plus cement,
molded, steam cured
• Artificial marble. Pre-cast or cast-in-situ.
Portland gypsum cement and sand. Cast blocks
treated with magnesium fluorite, washed, paper
wrapped, machine emery ground, polished and
finally rubbed with ball of wool moistened with
alum water
• Garlic stone. Iron slag and cement mixture
molded into flag stones, surface drains, etc

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Selection of Stones
• Cost – quarrying and cutting, dressing,
transportation charges, etc
• Fashion & Ornamental value including color, shade,
etc specially after prolong usage
• Durability (usually overlooked and disregarded),
resistance to fire and weathering
• Heavy engineering works bridges, piers,
abutments, break waters, docks, light houses –
granite (biotite, hornblende, tourmaline)
• Buildings facing the sea – granite, fine grained
sandstone
• Buildings in industrial area – granite, compact
sandstone 78
• Arches – fine grained sandstone
• Building face work – marble, close grained
sandstone
• Fire resisting structure – compact sandstone
• Road metal and aggregate for concrete –
granite, basalt, quartzite
• Railway ballast – coarse grained sandstone,
quartzite
• Electrical switch board – slate, marble

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Building Stones
• Stones used in most historical places
– Pyramids of Egypt
– Taj Mahal of Agra, India
– Great wall of China
– Greek and Roman structures
– Quaid’s Mausoleum in Karachi
– Shahi mosque in Lahore
– Forts at Rohtas, Jehlum
– Grand Trunk Road
– Lloyd’s Barrage at Sukkur
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