stonewall.nist.govNIST Stone Wall | NIST

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Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. https://www.nist.gov/el/materials-and-structural-systems-division-73100/nist-stone-wall Search NIST Menu Close Topics All Topics Advanced communications Artificial intelligence Bioscience Buildings and construction Chemistry Climate Cybersecurity Electronics Energy Environment Fire Forensic science Health Information technology Infrastructure Manufacturing Materials Mathematics and statistics Metrology Nanotechnology Neutron research Performance excellence Physics Public safety Resilience Standards Transportation Publications Labs & Major Programs Laboratories Communications Technology Laboratory Engineering Laboratory Information Technology Laboratory Material Measurement Laboratory Physical Measurement Laboratory User Facilities NIST Center for Neutron Research CNST NanoFab Research Test Beds Research Projects Tools & Instruments Major Programs Baldrige Performance Excellence Program CHIPS for America Initiative Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Office of Advanced Manufacturing Special Programs Office Technology Partnerships Office Services & Resources Standards and Measurements Calibration Services Laboratory Accreditation (NVLAP) Quality System Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) Standard Reference Instruments (SRIs) Standards.gov Time Services Office of Weights and Measures Software Data Chemistry WebBook National Vulnerability Database Physical Reference Data Standard Reference Data (SRD) Storefront License & Patents Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) NIST Research Library News & Events News Events Blogs Feature Stories Awards Video Gallery Image Gallery Media Contacts About NISTLeadership Organization Structure Budget & Planning Contact Us Visit Careers Student programs Work with NIST History NIST Digital Archives NIST Museum NIST and the Nobel Educational Resources Engineering Laboratory Materials and Structural Systems Division NIST Stone Wall Expand or Collapse Documentation Features of the Wall Location and Orientation News and Pictures Search the Stone wall Website Info NIST Stone Wall Share Facebook Linkedin Twitter Email The stone test wall was constructed to study the performance of stone subjected to weathering. It contains 2352 individual samples of stone, of which 2032 are domestic stone from 47 states, and 320 are stones from 16 foreign countries. Over 30 distinct types of stones are represented, some of which are not commonly used for building purposes. There are many varieties of the common types used in building, such as marble, limestone, sandstone, and granite. This site presents the existing data and pictures for each particular stone. In 1880 the Census Office and the National Museum in Washington, D.C. conducted a study of building stones of the United States and collected a set of reference specimens from working quarries. This collection was first displayed at the centennial exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 and was subsequently known as the Centennial Collection of U.S. Building Stones. Descriptions of producing quarries and commercial building uses in construction across the country were compiled for the report of the 10th Census of the United States in 1880. This collection of stones, augmented with building stones from other countries, was then placed on display in the Smithsonian Institution. In 1942, a committee was appointed to consider whether any worthwhile use could be made of the collection. It was decided that a study of actual weathering on such a great variety of stone would give valuable information. A plan was developed for building a test wall at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) as a cooperative study between NBS and ASTM Committee C-18 on Building Stone. In 1948, a test wall was constructed at the NBS site in Washington D.C. The upper picture was taken one month after erection at the original site. The wall was placed in jeopardy by the move of NBS to Gaithersburg, MD in the middle 1960s and the occupancy of the old NBS site by the University of the District of Columbia. The wall was moved intact in May 1977 to its present site at NBS (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) in Gaithersburg, MD. The following pictures were taken at the Gaithersburg site at the end of 1999. The wall provides a rare opportunity to study the effects of weathering on different types of stones, with the climatic conditions being the same for all stones. It offers a comparative study of the durability of many common building stones used in monuments, and commercial and government buildings. The wall also serves to preserve a valuable collection of building stone and should be useful as a reference for builders in identifying the kinds of stones that may be locally available. As the wall is approaching 60 years of age, interesting degradation features are being observed. After fifty years, during 1998, the Inorganic Building Materials Group of the Engineering Laboratory (formerly BFRL) in NIST initiated a project to document and evaluate the changes due to weathering. Sponsored by the NCPPT (National Center for Preservation Technology and Training), the project consisted of photographing the wall and archive specimens, and building a database to organize and provide easy access to the data. This database will be updated as new data become available, through microscopic investigation of mineralogy, texture and stone performance, imaging of existing buildings constructed with these specific stones, and any other research related to the stones. Buildings and Construction , Materials and Concrete / cement Contacts Paul E. Stutzman paul.stutzman@nist.gov Created February 16, 2018, Updated November 15, 2019 Documentation › HEADQUARTERS 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 301-975-2000 Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Giphy RSS Feed Mailing List How are we doing? 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