Geotechnical investigations on natural stone operation: Karatas Territory (Denizli) natural stone exploration (in Turkish with English abstract)

There are different geo-mechnical methods that could be used for marble quality investigation and the quarry operation. Before quarrying natural stones, some common geo-technical methods should be used for identifying depth of the natural stones in the field, where quarry purposed to be opened, as well as quality and strength of the rocks. In order to make these investigation, first of all geological composition of the quarry identified and on collected samples, geo-mechanical tests should performed in the laboratory so that before making investments, investors and operators could make forecast what would happen in the future. The aim of this paper is to identifying the geotechnical testing methods that should be performed in the laboratory and on a field for evaluating quarry operation from the scope of geomechanical point view. In order to achieve the goal, one of the quarries, Karataş territory in Denizli surroundings, was chosen as an example and related tests and fieldwork have been performed on rock samples and rock masses in the laboratory as well as in the field. In the study field, representative rock sample was collected, brought to the laboratory and prepared according to testing standards (TSE) and related tests, -including uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), point load index, Schmidt hammer rebound, unit weight, sonic wave velocity testing and water absorption-, was conducted. As a result of the study, some geo-mechanical properties of the rock have been investigated and related standard was correlated with the findings. It is concluded that the stone has good mechanical properties and condition according to TSE standard; therefore, this natural stone can be used for cladding sidewalls of modern building in both in internal and external.