The investigation of the quality of armourstones used in rubble mound breakwater (Güzelbahçe)

Natural stones have been used for protection of hydraulic structures since ancient times and continue to be used in the modern era due to their accessibility, durability, quality and good performance. Amourstones are used in harsh environmental conditions such as marine, coastal, fluvial. The aim of this study is to investigate the quality and suitability of armourstones provided by 3 different quarries (Karabacak Marble Quarry, Haynes Stone Quarry, and Doğanbey Stone Quarry) and used in rubble mound breakwater which was constructed between 2012 and 2015 in the district of Güzelbahçe (İzmir-Turkey). The rubble mound breakwater of Güzelbahçe has 250 boats capacity and the project cost was 25 million TL. In addition, the rubble mound breakwater structure has 70 meters long berth, 775 meters long for the main breakwater, 200 m long for secondary breakwater and 30 thousand cubic meters of rock fills have been used. Initially the quality of stones obtained from various sources were determined based on the quality classification techniques such as CIRIA/CUR and RERS. Various durability determination methods which may affect the usability of armourstones such as wet-dry strength ratio, slake durability index, static rock durability index and saturation coefficient, and durability properties, such as Böhme abrasion, shore hardness, impact resistance and wide wheel abrasion test results were compared with the results obtained with CIRIA / CUR and RERS, and significant results were obtained. The study was carried out in the field and in the laboratory. When the results of laboratory and field studies are compared, it is seen that there is significant correlation between the rock mass properties and rock material properties. The site performance and durability of the armourstones are compared with the field and laboratory works. Based on the three quality classification methods Haynes Limestone, Karabacak Brecciated Limestone and Doğanbey Limestone are considered as good quality materials and Karabacak Serpentinite is qualified as excellent quality rock material. Keywords: Armourstone, quality, CIRIA/CUR/CETMEF, RERS, breakwater, quarries, index properties