This document provides an overview of rocks and their use as construction materials. It discusses the properties that make certain rocks suitable as building stones, including their mineral composition, texture, porosity and permeability. The document then describes common rock types used in construction, such as granite, limestone, marble, sandstone and slate. It provides examples of important structures built with these materials from India and elsewhere. In conclusion, it emphasizes the importance of rocks to civilization and notes that India has a significant annual production of ornamental stones.

1. PRESENTED BY :
Pramoda G
SEMINAR ON
ROCK AS ACONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

2. Contents
 Introduction
 Properties of Building Stones
 Types of Building Stones
1. Building stones
1. Granite
2. Laterite
3. Basalts
4. Limestone
5. Marbles
6. Sandstone
2.Decorative stones
1. Dolerite
2. Slate
3. Soapstone
 Conclusion
 Reference

3. INTRODUCTION
 Rocks are aggregate of minerals. Rocks are quarried
larger for used as building stones for constructing
Buildings, Dams, Bridges, Monuments and
Memorials etc…
 Since 12000 Years rocks are using for Building
shelters.
 Hence building stones should have quality and
strength to sustain stress and strain exerted by
engineering structure.

4. Properties of Building Stones
 Mineral Composition
 Texture
 Porosity
 Permeability
 Resistance, Abrasion & Weathering
 Heat Resistance

5. MINERAL COMPOSTION
 The rocks are aggregates of minerals. If the mineral
constituents of a rock are hard, free from cleavage
and resistant to weathering, it is likely to be strong
and durable. The rocks which are rich in weak
minerals, such as micas, chlorite, talc, feldspars and
clay minerals, are not durable.
Texture
 Fine grained rocks are generally more dense and
stronger than coarse grained rocks. It is for this
reason that the basalts and dolerites are widely
used as road metal.

6. Structure
 Many rocks contain structures like stratification,
lamination, foliation and cleavage. Such rocks
bear greater loads if they are placed in the
construction parallel to the planes of weakness.
Porosity
The porosity of a rock is the ratio of the
volume occupied by pores to the total volume
of the rock sample.

7. Permeability
 Permeability is the capacity of rock to transmit water.
It indicates the ease with which the water can
percolate through the openings of the rocks.
The durability of a stone is its capacity to retain its original size ,
strength and appearence throughout a long period . Some rocks
which do not resist weathering, decay and loose strength early.
The durability of a rock is directly related to its mineral composition
and textures.
. Durability
Heat Resistance
When rocks are heated high temperature and then cooled, they
may get damaged. This is perticularly the case if they are rich
in minerals like calcite and felspar. The rocks the order of
resistance to damage fire are sandstones, granites ,
limestones , gneiss and marble.

8. Granite
Granite is a common type of intrusive, felsic,
igneous rock. which is granular and phaneritic in
texture.This rock consists mainly of quartz, mica,
and feldspar.
Granites can be pink to gray in colour.
Granites are used for construction purposes on
account of their high crushing strength, low
porosity and pleasing pink or grey colours.
 They are capable of taking good polish.
 In Karnataka, Chitradurga dist, Bellary dist.
Ilkal of Bijapur dist, Dharwad dist, Raichur dist,
Tumkur dist ,Belur of Hassan dist, Gudibande,
Shidlaghatta, Kalhalli of Kolar dist, Ramanagar
dist, Devarayanadurga, Kunigal, Magadi,
Sadarhalli, Nandagudi, Kanakapura taluk of
Bangalore dist, kollegal, yelandur taluk of
Chamarajanagar dist and mysore dist.

9. Cont.…
 In Tamil Nadu it occurs as charnockite
(hypersthene granite).
 Tomb of Job Charnock was first identified this
rock. Hence named after charnock.It is found in
abundance in Nilgiris of T.N, Eastern and western
Ghats.
 It occurs in northern parts Assam, Rupavati,
Bedia and Khamba dist of Gujarat, Bilaspur and
Raigarh dist of Madhya Pradesh. Ganjam and
Mayurbhanj dist of Orissa, Jhansi dist of U.P.

10. Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore
Stone Chariot, Hampi.
World’s first temple entirely
built by Granite in 10th century
Tanjore, India
Mahabalipuram,Tamil Nadu.

11. Laterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium,
formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all
laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides.They
develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of
the underlying parent rock.Tropical and subtropical
weathering (laterization) is a prolonged process of
chemical weathering.
It is essentially hydrated oxides of Fe and Al.
Laterites cuts into bricks and blocks when freshly
quarried, when it is exposed to air, it becomes hard.
 In India Laterites found in coastal tracts of
Kerala, Nellore dist of Andhra Pradesh and
Ratnagiri dist of Maharashtra, Puri and
Sambalpur dist of Orissa, Midnapur dist of West
Bengal.
 In Karnataka largely found in Malnad area and
coastal region.
 Used for building purpose.

12. ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

13. Basalts:
Basalts:
bbbbb
 It is a volcanic group of Igneous
rock. It is used in northern dist.
In Karnataka like Belgaum,
Bijapur, Bidar and Gulburga .
Some of the forts of Bidar and
Bijapur built out of Basalt.
Basalts are serves as excellent
road metal but they are not
usually preferred for building
purposes because of their dark
and dull colours.

14. Gateway of India,
Mumbai.
Bidar Fort, Karnataka

15. Sandstone:
It is a sedimentary rock composed
mainly of sand-sized minerals or
rock grains.
Most sandstone is composed
of quartz and/or feldspar because these
are the most common minerals in the
Earth's crust
 Fine grained and uniform textured best
suitable for building purpose,.
 In India excellent quality of Sandstone
are found in several state. Vindhyan
Sandstone are uppermost vindhyan age
are known excellent building stone, due
to their regular bedded formation
uniform grain size. In northern and
western India vindhyan Sandstone are
used as building stone.

16. Cont…
 Guntur, West Godavari ,Warangal dist of Andhra Pradesh.
Cherrapunji of Assam, Mizoram, Shahabad dist of Bihar,
Kutch and Zalawad, Sabarakantha dist of Gujarat.
 Another variety of Sandstone of great beauty and durability,
obtained from upper Gondwana rocks in Orissa ( occur in
the bank of Mahanadi river).
 In Karnataka it as occur in Belgaum, Bijapur and Gulbarga.
 Bilaspur, Damoh, Indore, Nimar, Raigarh, Rewa, Saugar,
Satna and Shahadol dist of M.P. Ambala dist of Haryana,
Patiala of Punjab and Simla of Himachal Pradesh. Bharatpur,
Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, kota and Udaipur dist of Rajasthan.

17. Red Fort, Delhi
Puri Jagannath
Temple, Konark
Badami Caves,Bagalkot

18. Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed
largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite,
which are different crystal forms of calcium
carbonate(CaCO3). Many limestones are
composed from skeletal fragments of marine
organisms such as coral or foraminifera.
It can be quarried easily and they chiefly used for
buildings, because of their light and pleasing
colour. These rocks are used as building stones in
Guntur, Anantapur and cuddapah dist of Andhra
Pradesh Porbandar, Navanagar of Gujarat, Raipur
dist of M.P. Jaisalmer and Udaipur dist of
Rajasthan, Banda dist of U.P.
 In Karnataka near Bagalkot, Bijapur dist
belongs to Kaladgi group. The flaggy limestone
of Bhima group exposed in parts of Bijapur and
Gulburga dist in Shahabad.

19. Cutting the limestone blocks
at a quarry in Gozo, Malta

20. Dwarka Temple,
Gujarat
Durga Temple,
Bagalkot

21. Marble Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic
rock composed of recrystallized carbonate
minerals, commonly calcite or dolomite
.Marble is commonly used for sculpture and
as a building material.
The crystalline Limestone and Marbles of
Rajasthan belongs to Archeans. They are known
as Makrana Marble. Makrana Marbles quarried in
Jaipur. This is the best Marbles in India.
 In India Visakhapatnam, Guntur dist of Andhra
Pradesh.
 Large quantities of white Marbles are found in
gorge of Narmada river close to Jabalpur town
of M.P.
 Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Madurai
dist of T.N.
 The world best supplies of Marble come from

22. Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata
Taj Mahal ,Agra
Makrana Marble

23. Dolerite
It is a hypobassal group of Igneous rock.
It is hard, even surface and ability to take
polish, yielding mirror like surface.
Highly valued as ornamental stone.
Dolerite mistakenly called black granite
by the trade and their jet black colour.
 It occurs in Kanakapura of Bangalore
dist, Arkalagud of Hassan
dist,Bangarpet of kolar
dist,chamarajanagar, Kollegal and
Yelandur of chamarajanagar dist, Sira
of Tumkur dist, Karwar of Uttar
kannada dist.

24. Vietnam War Monument,U.S.A

25. Slate
 It is a metamorphic rock
which can be broken easily
into thin smooth slabs. It is
used for roofing and paving
in buildings.
 Slates are quarried in india
near Dharmashala in
Kangra dist of Himachal
Pradesh, Monghyar in Bihar
and Markapur on the
Nellore- Kurnool border of
A.P.

26. Slate Roof
Slate Paving

27. Soapstone
Soapstone (also known as steatite,
or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a
type of metamorphic rock. It is largely
composed of the mineral talc and rich
in magnesium.
Grey to black colour, soft, easily
quarried, extensively used in erecting the
great temples of the Hoysala and
Chalukya periods of Belur, Halebeedu and
Somanathpura Carved of Soapstone.
 It occurs in Mysore, Hassan,
Chikmagalur and Tumkur dist of
Karnataka.

28. Chennakesava Temple,
Somanathapura,Mysore

29. Belur Temple, Hassan

30. Crushed Stone
 The crushed stones are used in recent year for
construction of buildings, small size are used in
roads, paved road.
 Some of the igneous, sedimentary and
metamorphic rocks we can make crushed stone.

31. Conclusion
The buildings and ornamental stones are a
part of our culture and civilization.
Permeable rocks are considered harm full
because they cause seepage of water.
Durability of rock is directly related to its
mineral composition & texture.
The weak minerals such as Mica, Calcite
Chlorite, Talc, Pyrite, Magnetite, Clay
minerals are not durable.
India’s annual production of ornamental
stones more than 600 crores of rupees.

32. References
 D.N.Wadia (1926) Geology of India,1st &2nd Edition , Tata
McGrow-Hill Publishing Company Limited,(pp.452-457)
 S.Krishnaswamy (1979) India`s Mineral Resources ,2nd Edition
Published by Mohan Primlani ,Oxford & IBH Publishing Co..
New Delhi, (pp.559-580)
 K.M. Bangar (1995) Principles of Engineering Geology,1st
Edition
Published by Nem Chand Jain ,Delhi,(pp.358-362)
Websites
 http://en.wikipedia.org/building stone.
 http://geology.utah.gov/geo_guides/slc_bldg_stones/pi60pg1.ht
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