Problems With Armor-Stone Quality on Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie

Lutton, Richard J.; Erickson, Ronald L.; ,

Problems With Armor-Stone Quality on Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie

by Richard J. Lutton, US Army Engineer Waterways, Experiment Station, Vicksburg, United States,
Ronald L. Erickson, US Army Engineer Waterways, Experiment Station, Vicksburg, United States,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Durability of Stone for Rubble Mound Breakwaters

Abstract:

The instances of deterioration of armor stone at coastal structures on the Great Lakes result from numerous distinct causes, both intrinsic and extrinsic. However, the proof of specific causes or combinations of causes case by case remains somewhat elusive; problem stone having actually come from many different dolomite and limestone quarries and having been produced in many different ways. Rock characteristics presumed to account for some of the deterioration include the only moderate strength of some dolomite as well as rock-mass defects such as micropores, microcracks, stratification, and natural jointing, fully or partially healed. Most source quarries have been primarily geared to sustained production of aggregate or flux stone in large quantities. The incipent blast cracking incidental to producing crusher feed on a large scale is usually detrimental to durability of stone coproduced as armor. The most detrimental practice in the 1970's when the dike-construction program was still growing was the quarrying and placing of stone during cold periods. Dramatic cases of freezing and cracking of uncured stone were common.

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