Holzer R., Bednarik M. & Laho M., 2014: Are there rocks from the Brezovské Karpaty Mts. suitable for construction and decoration purposes?. Acta Geologica Slovaca, 6, 1, 13–27. (in Slovak with English summary)

Sú horniny z Brezovských Karpát vhodné na stavebné a dekoračné účely?

Are there rocks from the Brezovské Karpaty Mts. suitable for construction and decoration purposes?

Rudolf Holzer, Martin Bednarik & Marek Laho

Katedra inžinierskej geológie, Prírodovedecká fakulta, Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, Mlynská dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava

Abstract

This research has focused on assessing the most important physical and mechanical properties of rocks quarried in the Brezovské Karpaty Mts. Carbonate sandstones and conglomerates of Upper Cretaceous and carbonate sandstone of Neogene sedimentary strata were considered. The sites Chtelnica – Trianova and Chtelnica – Malé Skalky were chosen as appropriate material for monuments and for restoration work. Samples for the assessment of rock properties were taken from abandoned and operated quarries. The tested specimens for laboratory tests in a form of cubes and cylinders were prepared from monoliths and drilled cores were taken from the depth up to 1 m within the rock mass. To broaden the scope of the investigations previous research results from quarries at St. Margarethen (Burgenland, Austria) in similar lithological type were also included. Thin sections were made from one of the drill cores from each quarry. The rock quality and durability were assessed through laboratory testing of physical and mechanical properties, including measurements of real and apparent density, porosity, water absorption capacity, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) for both dry and water-saturated rock samples and for samples following repeated freeze-thaw cycles, the coefficient of softening and the coefficient of freezing. All investigated rock samples had different porosities and absorption capacities. They also differed in their UCS values, which varied greatly but mostly belonged to the weak rock category (UCS below 50 MPa). Based on physical and mechanical properties of rocks assessed on a number of tested samples from two investigated sites in Slovakia and one comparable site in Austria, quality assurance of the rock utilization as a decoration/restoration material is presented.

Key words: decoration, restoration and building stone, weak rocks, physical and mechanical rock properties, Chtelnica – Trianova quarry, Chtelnica – Malé Skalky quarry

Manuscript received: 2014-01-14

Revised version accepted: 2014-02-25