"Improvement of dimension stone exploitation using structural analyses"

The geostructural pattern of a rock mass defines not only the stability of the excavation faces traced in it to obtain blocks of ornamental stones, but also contributes to the planning of the evolution of the exploitation itself. In this sense, the geostructural conditions determine both the design of the excavations and the methods to be used to separate the blocks from the face. The evaluation of the stability features, in the case of dimension stone quarrying and the choice of the best quarrying method, involves and increase of the productivity of the quarries, a good safety standard and a correct environmental arrangement of the exploitation basin. Some significant cases of quarries in the Italian Alpine range are examined and discussed in this paper in order to obtain some general guidelines for quarrying methods.