Natural stones for monuments: their availability for restoration and evaluation

Abstract

This paper represents the introduction to the volume focused on the various aspects of natural stone research. From the topic issues studied recently, four major aspects are covered:(1) availability of certain stone types for monuments, (2) strategies aiming to strengthen our knowledge of past resources through the establishment of natural stone databases and inventories, (3) evaluation of natural stone properties and assessment of the compatibility of repair stones, and (4) decay studies of natural stone on monuments and on natural exposures. This paper also aims to highlight the importance of the use of local stone resources, a practice that has seriously declined during the 20th century in most of the industrialized countries. The availability of natural stone from monuments is also discussed in terms of sandstones and travertine in the Czech Republic and Hungary as a typical example.

Petrographic and petrophysical characterisation and structural function of the heritage stones in Fuwairit Archaeological Site (NE Qatar): implications for heritage conservation

“…Geology, specifically the study of heritage stones, provides archaeologists with information about the types of stones used, historical quarries, degree of decay and solutions for conservation (Přikryl and Török, 2010;Zoghlami et al, 2017a;. Knowledge, conservation and protection of heritage stones makes it possible to develop programs contributing to the diversification of tourism and economy (Belhaj et al, 2016;Ehling, 2018;Migaszewski and Mader, 2019).…”

Correlations of Physicomechanical Properties of Quarry Aggregates - The Case of Two Quarries in Ghana

“…Construction aggregate fundamentally is a raw material in all countries with the largest growth observed in industrial and construction materials [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The demand and appetence for this material will continue to be highest in the developing countries that are eager to close up the infrastructural gap with the developed countries [3,[7][8][9].…”

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However, the testing and specification of crushed rock aggregates are often overlooked or not considered in most civil engineering construction across many jurisdictions in the world [5,19]. This often has serious implications for the life and maintenance of buildings and road infrastructure.

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Antique stone quarries in Turkey: a case study on tuffs in the Temple of Apollon Smintheus

“…Historically, only high-status stone blocks were transported for longer distances, whereas local quarries were used for larger constructions (Gómez-Heras & Fort González 2004;Török & Přikryl 2010). Since local stones do not entail high transportation costs they can be extracted whenever is suitable (Bell 1990).…”

“…In Turkey, tuffs that have low unit weight, high to very high porosity and poor to good durability properties (Topal & Doyuran 1997, 1998Topal 2002;Topal & Sözmen 2003;Yavuz 2012;Ç elik et al 2014) are seen in antique structures as well as in historic monuments of the Seljuk-Ottoman period that have survived to the present day. Unremarkably, antique quarries can be found with the masons' marks and shear ledges of dimension stones; however, it is not possible today to observe the tuff quarries as they appeared in ancient times, because tuffs deteriorate over time when exposed to weathering and/or because of the urban construction mass (Přikryl 2006;Přikryl & Török 2010). In the case of lack of knowledge of the original quarry, the most contiguous geological resources are examined through mineralogical, chemical, and physical analyses and in situ observation and testing to find replacement stones that are compatible in terms of characteristics and appearance.…”