The most common sedimentary rocks are limestone, coal, iron ore etcBut what are their uses in terms of engineering? Limestone is used in the production of cement and Slate is used in roofing. Are there any applications of sedimentary rocks in Engineering?links will be much appreciated.thank you
Iron ore isn't a sedimentary rock. It's iron ore. Coal is obviously burned in power plants to generate electricity. That's about it. Well, I guess you could go really old-school and have a coal-fired furnace in your house. The biggest use of sedimentary rock has nothing to do with digging it out of the ground -- sedimentary rock is where oil and gas occur. We need oil and gas, we pump it out of sedimentary rock. We used to use chalk on blackboards, but I suppose they don't do that now. However, chalk is still used by gymnasts to give themselves better grip -- you may see that in the Olympics, if anyone gives a damn about the Olympics. I don't. Limestone is used in concrete, as building stones, in antacids, as a soil conditioner, and part of the process of making steel making. Shale is used to make brick. Sandstone is used in construction and glass production. Many sedimentary rocks are simply dug up as is, in small pieces, or crushed into construction sand and gravel with various engineering uses, too many to really enumerate. Sedimentary rocks in general are not used in engineering. Compared to igneous and many metamorphic rocks, most sedimentary rocks are very weak. However, when treated right, they can be used as very attractive decorative stones from external walls to kitchen counters and expensive dining room table tops.
gravel is usually limestone. Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock. Often gravel is grey with white thrown in as well. The white is the mineral calcite. To test if your gravel is limestone - drop HCl on it and if it fizzes then it is the sedimentary rock LIMESTONE
