The influence of the de-icing salt on the deterioration of rock materials used in monumental buildings

The de-icing salt has been used for decades to increase safety on the roads and sidewalks. In Poland, mainly the sodium chloride is used in order to maintain the roads in good condition during winter. Like other salts used for surface de-icing, it depresses the freezing point to lower temperatures and has an additional thermal effect by an exothermic reaction. However, this salt causes the accumulation of chlorides in the walls and stone buildings contributing to the deterioration of these facilities. The paper addresses the issue of the influence of salt solutions on the structure and geomechanical properties of rocks at negative temperatures. The study was conducted on the basis of cyclic tests which simulate complex action of both the negative temperature and the salty environment. The conditions for the tests were chosen so as to reflect the actual conditions of the winter in Poland. During the tests, the longitudinal wave propagation velocity, changes in weights of the samples as well as visual changes were recorded which allowed continuous tracking of occurring changes. At the end of the tests, the rock samples were subjected to uniaxial compressive tests. For this purpose, four lithological types were chosen, representing the sedimentary rocks: clastic and carbonate, widely used in stone constructions.