A geological and geotechnical investigation of some rocks in Trivandrum area, Kerala, India

Abstract

In the Indian stone industry, possessing huge reserves of about 1,690 million cum dimensional stone deposits, geological and geotechnical parameters of commercial rock deposit plays a significant role in the economic exploitation of quality commercial rock deposits. The success of the commercial stone industry solely depends upon the availability of large reserves of defect free raw materials. An attempt is made here to study the geological and geotechnical properties of different rocks from Trivandrum area, Kerala. A variety of rock samples from different parts of Trivandrum are subjected to study petrographic, physical and strength parameters. Geological studies reveals that inherent geological discontinuities in rock deposits like multiple joints, weathering, foliations and variations in color of the rocks etc. lead to huge wastage of resources, because such rocks are not suitable for any engineering purpose. The geotechnical studies conducted gives an idea about the physical and strength properties of the rocks. The result of the study gives the rock which has maximum favorable properties for use in construction engineering applications, out of the available ones in the study area. 2015 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.