The use of building stones in railway ballast, building decorations and tombstones

The railway ballast

Ballast is the broken pieces of rock that are poured on the railway bed. Ballast has uniform granulation and usually has particle sizes of about 20 to 60 mm. Tolerating the vertical, horizontal and lateral forces on the traverses in order to keep the line in its certain position, spreading and transferring loads to the lower layers, draining surface water, adjusting and leveling the rail surface during rail laying and repairs, damping and depreciation of shocks, vibrations and resulting sounds. From the movement of rail vehicles, freezing insulation for the layer below and preventing the growth of plants on the line are the most important tasks.

The stones used for railway ballast must have the following characteristics to perform their tasks:

1. They are hard and have a high specific weight.
2. Be resistant to abrasion.
3. have high compressive and shock resistance.
4. The stone that made it has no defects, does not collect rainwater and is free of dirt and materials
5. be redundant
6. have good durability against freezing.
7. In order to prevent the horizontal movement of the traverse, they should have enough grip, have sharp edges and even cube as much as possible. In other words, they are the type of broken stones.
8. be easily available and cheap.
9. Its particles have sufficient elasticity coefficient.

Decoration of buildings

Cut stones of certain sizes are used for building decorations. These stones are used for door frames, windows, columns, fireplaces and other special items in the building. To choose these stones, you should pay attention to the following:

1. Mainly stones that are easy to work on are chosen for this purpose.

2. Have good durability and generally have good tensile and bending resistance.

3. Have a beautiful color and appearance.

Hard limestones and marbles, igneous rocks and sandstones (if they are malleable) are among the most suitable stones.

Tombstone

Another type are building stones that, despite their decoration, remind of sad memories. The characteristics of a good tombstone are actually similar to the characteristics required for a sculptural stone. The decorative quality of these stones should be compatible with its purpose, i.e. they should not be colorful and harsh. On the other hand, while having adequate durability, it has the ability to be cut in the form of a sheet, and the writings that are carved on it must have proper clarity.

Limestones, marbles, granites, gabbros, other igneous rocks and sandstones are the main types of these types of stones. In Britain, Portland stone, Dartmoor granite, imported gabbro and slate are among the most important gravestones. Especially the pale color of the Portland monotone has many fans and can be easily worked on and engraved with writings.