A new portable system for determining the state of conservation of monumental stones

In this paper a comparison between the standard uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test and a new portable instrument called Drilling Resistance Measurement System (DRMS) is presented. This instrument is part of a new methodology developed and validated within a European research project (Hardrock) with the aim to evaluate the performances of consolidation treatments applied on stone monuments.
The tests have been done on different stone categories in order to evaluate the influence of the mineralogical, structural and physical characteristics in the results obtained with the two methods.