Stiffness Considerations in Dimension Stone Anchorage Design

The successful exploration of dimension stone mainly depends on the quality, size, and shape of extractable blocks of dimension stone. The investigated area is in the Pelješac Peninsula (Croatia), in the External Dinarides orogeny, built from thick carbonate succession, characterized by relatively small deposits of high-quality dimension stone. These conditions demand challenging geological investigations in the “pre-quarry” phase to find optimal quarry location. The size and shape of dimension stone blocks are mainly controlled by fracture pattern systems. In the rugged, covered terrains, it is very hard to obtain a satisfactory amount of fracture data from the surface, so it is necessary to collect them from the underground. Borehole camera technology can visualize the inner part of the rock mass and measure the fracture characteristics. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) the digital borehole camera technology provides a quick, effective, and low-cost geological survey of fractured rock mass; (2) statistical fracture distribution parameters, P10, fracture spacing, Volumetric Joint Count (Jv) based on borehole wall survey can reflect the integrity of rock mass, providing a solid decision-making base for further investment plans and dimension stone excavation method.

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Gargantuan Hail in Argentina

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/bams-d-19-0012.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 101 (8) ◽

pp. E1241-E1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Matthew R. Kumjian ◽

Rachel Gutierrez ◽

Joshua S. Soderholm ◽

Stephen W. Nesbitt ◽

Paula Maldonado ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Large Population ◽

Laser Scanner ◽

Meteorological Conditions ◽

Dimension Stone ◽

World Record ◽

Maximum Dimension ◽

Supercell Storm ◽

The World ◽

Local Residents

Abstract On 8 February 2018, a supercell storm produced gargantuan (>15 cm or >6 in. in maximum dimension) hail as it moved over the heavily populated city of Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province, Argentina. Observations of gargantuan hail are quite rare, but the large population density here yielded numerous witnesses and social media pictures and videos from this event that document multiple large hailstones. The storm was also sampled by the newly installed operational polarimetric C-band radar in Córdoba. During the RELAMPAGO campaign, the authors interviewed local residents about their accounts of the storm and uncovered additional social media video and photographs revealing extremely large hail at multiple locations in town. This article documents the case, including the meteorological conditions supporting the storm (with the aid of a high-resolution WRF simulation), the storm’s observed radar signatures, and three noteworthy hailstones observed by residents. These hailstones include a freezer-preserved 4.48-in. (11.38 cm) maximum dimension stone that was scanned with a 3D infrared laser scanner, a 7.1-in. (18 cm) maximum dimension stone, and a hailstone photogrammetrically estimated to be between 7.4 and 9.3 in. (18.8–23.7 cm) in maximum dimension, which is close to or exceeds the world record for maximum dimension. Such a well-observed case is an important step forward in understanding environments and storms that produce gargantuan hail, and ultimately how to anticipate and detect such extreme events.

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