Specific Procedures for Historic Mortar and Sandstone Analyses—Case Studies of Kelso Abbey and Glenfinnan Viaduct

TY - GEN

T1 - Specific Procedures for Historic Mortar and Sandstone Analyses—Case Studies of Kelso Abbey and Glenfinnan Viaduct

AU - Csetenyi, Laszlo

AU - Dyer, Thomas

N1 - © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2026

PY - 2026/1/2

Y1 - 2026/1/2

N2 - Sandstone was always widespread used in large scale building works in the past centuries, for its abundance and easy carving nature, however this latter also meant lower resistance to the elements and to air pollution with the start of the industrial revolution. Conservation work on historic buildings (stonework, mortar) is often hindered, if not prohibited, by not knowing the composition and sources of the materials used for their construction. Standard test methods are not relevant or not practical in most of the cases simply by not been developed with the peculiarities of historical samples in mind, i.e. these do not consider the difficulties with small sampling sizes, limited chances to repeat a measurement, or the preference of non-destructive assessments. Modern laboratory techniques, however, can be instrumental for providing the required pieces of information, even with minimal or no salvaging of the precious original samples. Adopting such specific assessment methods (CT scanning, X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry etc.) will enable selecting the correct proxy materials, which are identical with the originals and therefore comply with the guidelines of the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites. Successful application of such sophisticated laboratory characterisation work is presented in case studies involving Kelso abbey and Glenfinnan viaduct in Scotland.

AB - Sandstone was always widespread used in large scale building works in the past centuries, for its abundance and easy carving nature, however this latter also meant lower resistance to the elements and to air pollution with the start of the industrial revolution. Conservation work on historic buildings (stonework, mortar) is often hindered, if not prohibited, by not knowing the composition and sources of the materials used for their construction. Standard test methods are not relevant or not practical in most of the cases simply by not been developed with the peculiarities of historical samples in mind, i.e. these do not consider the difficulties with small sampling sizes, limited chances to repeat a measurement, or the preference of non-destructive assessments. Modern laboratory techniques, however, can be instrumental for providing the required pieces of information, even with minimal or no salvaging of the precious original samples. Adopting such specific assessment methods (CT scanning, X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry etc.) will enable selecting the correct proxy materials, which are identical with the originals and therefore comply with the guidelines of the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites. Successful application of such sophisticated laboratory characterisation work is presented in case studies involving Kelso abbey and Glenfinnan viaduct in Scotland.

KW - Mortar

KW - Sandstone

KW - Restoration

KW - Proxy materials

UR - https://cees2025.uc.pt/

U2 - 10.1007/978-981-95-1822-7_18

DO - 10.1007/978-981-95-1822-7_18

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9789819518210

T3 - Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

SP - 171

EP - 179

BT - Construction, Energy, Environment and Sustainability - Proceedings of CEES 2025 Volume 1

A2 - Berardi, Umberto

A2 - António, Julieta

A2 - Simões, Nuno

PB - Springer

T2 - CEES2025

Y2 - 11 June 2025 through 13 June 2025

ER -