LECTURE 6 - CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD BUILDING STONE

Objectives of this Lecture:

• Characteristics of a Good Building Stone

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD BUILDING STONE

• Appearance: The Building Stones being used in the construction work should be uniform in color as well as should not have spots of color within the stone. Lighter color of stones are more preferable than the darker stones as latter are less durable. It also should have pleasant color and free from patches too.

• Strength: Building Stones must have good compression strength. Building stones should be able to withstand a minimum crushing strength of 1000 kg/cm² .

• Durability: It should be able to withstand and resist the action of the atmosphere such as rain, wind, temperature etc

• Texture: It is preferred to have building stones with fine crystalline compact structure as those are more stronger.

• Dressing: It should be easy to cut the stone and to dress it into different shape for carving and structural works.

• Seasoning: Every freshly quarried stones contain a bit amount of moisture content, termed as quarry sap. It is essential that after quarrying and dressing of the stone, it should be left for minimum 6 to 12 months before using such stones for construction.

• Toughness: Building stones should be able to resist and withstand the load and stress developed due to the vibration of moving machinery.

• Porosity and Absorption: A good building stone should not be porous and not absorb more than 5% of water when immersed.

• Heaviness: Building stones used in the construction of dams, barrages should be of high varieties. A stone should have specific gravity in ranges from 2.4 to 2.8. 

• Resistance to fire: A Building stone should be free from minerals such as calcium carbonate and oxides of iron and also, the minerals present in stones should not have different co-efficient of thermal expansion. Building Stones should also be able to resist high temperature.

LECTURE RELATED QUESTIONS:

1. What are the various characteristics of a good Building Stone?

2. Write down the 10 features of a good building stone.