STUDIES ON SQME INDIAN BUILDING STONES AND THEIR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

"How does mineral quartz or felspar concerns an engineer? Is this rock suitable as a building material? On many occassions such queries are raised by the engineers, architects and the contractors. Hence, it was considered useful to carry out some experiments on the building stones of the country, so that it could serve as an aid to those who wish to have a better understanding of the rocks used as building materials. In this treatment an attempt has been made to combine the knowledge of geology with an engineering outlook, in such a way as to link up the results obtained in the laboratory with the practical problems of the building stone industry. The aim has not been merely a descriptive and fundamental research, but the applied aspect has always been kept in view. For this reason critical surveys of present methods of quarrying, testing and evaluating the stones,. together with the suggestions as to future lines of approach, have been given where ever possible. About six years back when the writer was engaged on the research programme of the Central Building Research Institute, Lt. Gen. Harold Williams, Director, suggested that it would be worth-while to choose a topic where some engineering aspects of geology, particularly applied to the building research in India, were involved. Naturally, 'Building Stones' were the first to come to the mind of a student of geology. In order to learn more of the problem so that a significant contribution could be possible, a probe was made into the pages of the available literature. Later, the study was supported by field surveys of the stone constructions and the quarrying activities in the country. Soon, it was realized that though there are many scattered reports and passing notes on the subject, there is no comprehensive account available on the 'Indian Building Stones', their use and the methods of testing. on the other hand, inf""or- mation was available on the building stones of many a countries, but the literature was too meagre about the Indian resources. Further, the importance of such, a study was appreciated all the more as the use of 'Indian Stone' had recently received a revival as facing material in India and as an ornamental stone in the markets of foreign countries. It will be realized that the bou: .,,~ the topic under study are very vasty and within the limits of these pages it is very difficult to treat, even briefly, all the ram~.ficaw tions of the subject. Hence., by making a somewhat arbitrary choice, it has been endeavoured to include all that was consi-dered most useful and could be performed within the available time and the facilities.."