BUILDING MATERIALS OF GEOLOGIC ORIGIN

Dimension stone, crushed stone, natural gravel and sand and earth mud used
with a binder like mortar, cement or bitumen or alone and water in the
construction of foundations, buildings, roads, railways, bridges and other
civil and architectural structure form the most popular and common
construction materials of geologic origin from times immemorial.

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF ROCKS

When rocks are to be used for foundation sites, they must be

very strong to withstand heavy foundation loads and hence
the strength of the rock becomes its most important
property. The compressive strength, the tensile strength, the
shear strength, the elasticity etc. of a rock, therefore
become important for he site rock to be used for foundation
purposes.

The other properties of rocks like color, appearance,

workability, ability to take polish etc are not important for
using rocks as foundation sites, become quite important
when the rocks are to be used as exposed building stones, or
for face work or statue making. Obviously, strength is
unimportant in such cases, because here the rocks are not
supposed to bear any heavy loads. Similarly, resistance to
abrasion becomes very important when stones are used for
flooring purposes. Durability becomes important for roofing
stones or tiles. Good binding and hydrophobic properties
become important for using rocks as road aggregates.

Softness becomes important for carving; lightness becomes

important stone to used inarches. Since different rocks
posses’ different physical or engineering properties, it
becomes imperative for civil engineers to know their details.

Say for example, let us take the case of Marble and Basalt
rocks Marbles are available in various beautiful and pleasing
colors and do have good workability and ability to take
polish. They are very suitable for monumental, sculpture and
face works in buildings. In spite of these desirable qualities,
Marbles become unsuitable to serve as foundation sites for
sounding any heavy structure or dam etc.

Massive Basalts are just the opposite of Marbles in nature

and suitability. Such Basalt rocks are quite strong and
competent to withstand heavy loads of foundations, but are
most suitable for face-works.

Keeping into consideration such engineering properties of

available rocks, their possible uses are to be identified of
course keeping in views the availability of the desired rocks
at least distance from the construction site, to minimize their
transport cost.

BUILDING STONES
Building and ornamental stones are a part of our culture and civilization.
Stone because of its inherent characteristics of beauty, strength, durability
and versatility has been a much-favored building material. Stones are
extensively used in all parts of the world in the construction of structures as
masonry units, in foundation, works, arches, sills, lintels, irrigation works,
canal lining, important public buildings, monuments and memorial etc
where strength and durability are the prime factors.

Properties and requirements of building stones:-

Strength and Soundness: - A satisfactory building stone must be strong

with crushing strength more than 1000kg/cm2, hard, compact, tough and
sound and free from defects like hair line slicks, seams, micro joints, cracks
and other weak points that may cause the rock to break before processing.
The rock should bear all the stresses imposed upon it by the structure and
continue to do so after it has been in place for many years.

Group Rocks Type Kg/cm2

Igneous Granite 800 – 1300
Rocks Syenite 900 - 1500
Diorite 900 - 1500
Basalt 1500 - 1900
 Sedimentary Sandstone 650
Rocks Limestone 550
Metamorphic Gneiss 2200 - 2700
Rocks Slate 750 - 2100

Crushing Strength of some common building stones

It has been found in practice that stones begin to crack or fracture at about
halt their permissible loads and therefore it is advised to provide a factor of
safely of 20.

Durability: - Resistance to weathering and chemical action. The stone must

be durable , unaffected by environmental vagaries such as temperature
changes, wind abrasion, frost action immune to acid rains and fumes.

Permeability: - It must be impermeable to moisture and rains or have low

porosity and adsorption in order to prevent chemical decay, frost action,
discoloration and formation of ugly stains.

Adhesive Properties: - It must bind well with mortar or cement

Resistance to heat and fire: - It is desirable that the stone is heat and fire
resistant and does not spall or crumble under intense heat as in some special
circumstances and constructions.

Volume change: - It should allow minimum volume change if any

Workability: - It must have favorable interlocking texture rift and grains for
easy sawing, dressing, planning and machining.
 Group Rock Types
Igneous Granite,
Rocks Syenite,
Dolerite
Sedimentary Sandstone,
Rocks Limestone,
Laterite
Metamorphic Gneiss,
Rocks Charnockite,
Quartzite

ORNAMENTAL STONES
Properties and requirements of ornamental stones
For decorative purposes, monuments sculpturing etc, the stones used must
be:

# Artistically attractive with pleasing color, texture and appearance

# Easily worked-cut split and planed, carved with chisel and other cutting
carving and
shaping tools

# Capable of taking high polish and preserve low absorption and resistance
to chemical
abrasion

# Devoid of iron pyrites. Iron pyrites quickly decomposes liberating iron

oxides and hydrates. These produce undesirable dark ugly patches and
streaks and stains

Group Rock Types

Igneous Granite,
Rocks Syenite,
Granite
Porphyry,
Syenite
porphyry
Group Rock Types
Sedimentary Breccia,
Rocks Sandstone,
Limestone,
Shell
Limestone

Group Rock Types

Metamorphic Gneiss,
Rocks Augen
Gneiss,
Schist,
Quartzite

FLOORING AND ROOFING STONES

Stones slabs used in the construction of floor and roofs of buildings and
structures. To provide a durable, comfortable and pleasing, walking and
relaxing surface in residential buildings, office, schools, hospitals, factories
as well as ornamental flooring and paving indoors and outdoors, garden
stone paths and if used for roofing, a protective roof from sun rain.

Properties and requirements

# These rock should be fissile and/or with easy rift and yield intact thin
plane sheets or
slabs.
# Uniform color and texture or variegated so to provide vivid and pleasing
colors and
patterns
# Fine to medium grained with good transverse strength over 70kg.cm2
# Low porosity and absorption, should not become damp or sweating
# High resistance to abrasion and wear uniformly
# Should not contain ugly stains, discoloration and deleterious minerals like
iron pyrites
# Resist growth of mosses and lichens
# Resist weathering and chemical attack
# Free from veins, crack and other weak planes

Group Rock types

 Igneous Granite
Rocks
Sedimentary Thin Bedded
Rocks sandstone,
Limestone
Metamorphic Crystalline
Rocks Limestone,
Phyllite slate
Limestone and Slate as Flooring and Roofing Materials
Limestone is soft, white when pure or variously colored and often variegated
with streaks and bands of different colors and width due to impurities.
Limestone can be cut saw and planed into thin slabs of required size.

Slate, one the other hand, is the most preferred material as this can be
obtained in thin sheets along its well developed favorably spaced cleavages,
cut and planned. Slates are variously colored commonly black, gray, blue
and brown. Limestone and slate are used square or diamond shaped black
and white slabs like a chessboard. Limestone and slate also provide good
roofing material.

PAVING STONES
Large flat square stone slabs laid on ground to form a level surface for sage
walking. To provide a durable and non slippery walking surface for the daily
use of pedestrians in footpaths and sidewalks in cities and towns and far
shipment and traffic of trolleys and load laden coolies in bus stations,
railway platforms, station yards and dockyards.

Properties and Requirements

# The stones should be hard, strong and granular
# Do not alter or crush soon.
# Do not wear rapidly.
# Wear uniformly
# Do not become soft, highly polished and slippery rainy season and wet
weather

Group Rock Types

Igneous Granite,
Rocks Granite
 Porphery
Sedimentary Sandstone
Rocks
Metamorphic Charnockite
Rocks

ROAD METAL
The evenly graded crushed or broken stone used in a construction of roads as
top course for surfacing macadamized roads and for foundation for asphalt
(tar) and concreter roadways and runways.

Function of metal
# to provide a sound base and
# to provide a good long wearing or durable skid resistant or non-slippery
road surface.
The metal undergoes slight displacement with or without attrition inflexible,
pavements under heavy and fast vehicular traffic. This causes unequal
wearing with development of potholes and corrugations.

Properties and Requirements

To maintain a good and durable road surface the metal should have
dependable wearing qualities governed by geologic characteristics
# The rock should be preferably crystalline durable and strong
# Should be hard enough to resist the wear and tear due to vehicular traffic
# Should have interlocking textures like equigranular and ophitic textures
# Should break into intact, angular fragments
# Should be tough in order to resist sudden impact of moving wheel loads.

Road type Rock type Water bound Bitumenous or Cement-

Aggregates Macadam Asphalt bound Concrete
road Macadam road Road
WBM BBM
Hard Igneous Gabbro, Gabbro, Basalt
Aggregates Rocks Dolerite Dolerite
(Metal) Basalt, Basalt, Diorite
Granite, Syenite,Diorit
Syenite, e
 Granite
Sandstone,
Sedimentary Sandstone Breccia, Hard Limestone
Rock Limestone a&
Dolostone
Gneiss,
Metamorphic Gneiss Gneiss Quartzite
Rocks Charnockite Quartzite Limestone
Soft Quartzite Laterite
Aggregates Laterite

The basic igneous rocks are also best suited for asphalt roads as asphalt
binds well to these. The rocks, dolerite and basalt rich in iron and
magnesium minerals like augite have a positive electron charge and attract
asphalt which has a negative charge.

Remarks on the use of:

Limestone: This is soft and gets rapidly crushed and ground under heavy
vehicular traffic producing much dust and potholes. This causes public
nuisance, damage to vehicles and maintenance problems. In order to avoid
this only treated limestone metal called coated aggregate is recommended.

Quartzite: This is very brittle and breaks with very sharp angular edges and
points. This is a turn affects pneumatic tyre of vehicles. Also it grinds soon
in dry weather under heavy and fast vehicular traffic producing clouds of
choking dust, potholes and corrugations. Asphalt or tars do not bind well
with quartzite.
CONCRETE AGGREGATE
An intimate mixture of stone, sand water and Portland cement which
hardness to a stone like mass

Concrete Aggregate: The filler material employed in the fabrication of

concrete. Concrete aggregate is of two kinds
1). Coarse aggregate and
2). Fine Aggregate

1). Coarse aggregate: - Angular and sub angular fragments of dia 5 cm

across which may be natural gravel or manufactured by crushing and
grading quarried natural rock
2). Fine Aggregate: - A mass of incoherent grains of hard and resistant
rocks and minerals eroded, transported and deposited by wind, river, ice or
sea waves or obtained by crushing and screening of natural rocks. Most
natural sand are composed of 60 to 90 % of quartz grains that are either
angular, sub angular or rounded according to the rigors of attrition, the
eroded fragments suffer during transportation.

Properties and Requirements: -

Good quality aggregates make good concrete; rocks selected for use of
coarse aggregate should be of
# Good strength
# Compact and hard, break into cubical angular or sub angular fragments
# Not flaky, splintery, scaly, foliated
# Impervious and of low absorption
# Free from organic and other harmful impurities
# Chemically stable
# Have a good bond with cement
# Have a mineral expansion

Influence of aggregate properties on the properties of concrete

Following are the important properties of aggregates that influence the
strength durability and service behavior of concrete.

1). Strength, hardness and durability: High strength of aggregates is

beneficial to concreter subjected to stress. Compressibility of aggregate
influences the shrinkage of concrete during drying. As cement paste shrinks
the aggregate is compressed. If the aggregate is strong and the cement bond
is good, shrinkage is restrained.

2). Shape and surface texture: - Shape of aggregate influences workability.

The recognized shapes of aggregates are rounded, irregular angular and
flaky. Rounded aggregate contributes to smooth and workable mix but the
bond with cement becomes limited. Irregular and angular fragments make
harsh concrete but good bond with cement, and require more water. Flaky
and elongated fragments pack poorly, crush soon, decrease workability and
tend to orient themselves. This prevents percolation and accumulation of
water between them thereby prevent good bond with cement. Elongated and
flaky fragments are obtained from banded, laminated or schistose rocks or
from crushing.
Surface Texture: - The roughness and pore characteristics of the surface of
aggregate fragments are called surface texture. Surface texture of aggregate
governs the bond with cement and affects the strength of concrete. The
important surface textures are
1). Crystalline
2). Rough and pitted
3). Glassy or smooth
4). Honey combed

a rough textured surface bonds better with cement that a smooth surface.
Weathered surface, adversely affect the reinforced cement concrete. Pitted
and honey combed surfaces to some extent are advantageous in getting a
good bond with cement.

3). Thermal properties: -Highly siliceous aggregates like granite, quartzite

and other are liable to spalling and in some cases to shattering at high
temperature around 570oC due to dehydration of quartz or component
minerals or inversion of quartz from one form to another.

4). Organic Matter: - Organic matter includes bark, peat, coal, shells and
other vegetable and animal matter and soil humus. Natural, gravel and sands
are commonly contaminated with these. These interfere with an effective
bond with cement and with the functioning of air entraining agents.

Group Class Rock Types

Igneous Volcanic, Basalt,
Rocks Hypabyssal, Dolerite,
Plutonic Granite,Syenite,Gabbro

Mechanical, Breccia, Sandstone,

Sedimentary Chemical & [Link]
Rocks Organic

Thermal Quartzite
Metamorphic Dynamic Gneiss
Rocks Plutonic Charnockite
Quality Concrete Coarse Aggregates