Waddington Sandstone

Technical Data Sheet
Waddington Sandstone
Waddington Quarry
Fell Rd, Waddington, Nr. Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 3AA
Contact : Waddington Fell Quarries Ltd
Tel . 01200 446334
Grid reference : —- —-
Compiled May 2000

This data sheet was compiled by the Building Research Establishment (BRE). It is based on data from current tests at BRE (2000). The data sheet was compiled in May 2000. The work was carried out by BRE as part of a Partners in Technology Programme funded by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and Waddington Fell Quarries Ltd. and does not represent an endorsement of the stone by BRE.

General
Waddington quarry is near Clitheroe, Lancashire and produces quarry blocks up to 5 x. 4 x 2.8 m (2.8 m on bed) with a maximum size of up to 10 tonnes. Materials are sawn on site to give a sawn product range 0.21 – 0.1 m on bed of length 0.41 m and width 0.14 – 0.1 m. Only sawn products are supplied.

Petrography
Waddington is a buff to grey coloured, fine to coarse grained sandstone from the Millstone Grit series of the Carboniferous.

Expected Durability and Performance
It is important that the results from the individual tests are not viewed in isolation. They should be considered together and compared to the performance of the stone in existing buildings and other uses. Sandstone is traditionally acknowledged as generally being a very durable building and paving stone and has been used extensively in many towns and cities in the UK. Waddington sandstone appears to be a durability stone that will have good resistance to acid rain or air pollution. In addition, the negligible weight loss in the sodium sulphate crystallisation test indicates high resistance to salt damage (for example in coastal locations or from de-icing salts). From the frost test the stone should also have high frost resistance. The compressive and flexural strength of the stone is in the lower third for a sandstone and is comparable with many sandstones. The density and compressive strength indicate that the stone should be suitable for use in moderate to heavily trafficked areas.

Overall, Waddington should be suitable for use in most aspects of construction including flooring, paving, load bearing masonry and cladding. The stone is suitable for areas where a long service life is needed. The stone is traditionally used for load bearing masonry and is not available for cladding, flooring, paving or veneers.

Test Results – Waddington Fell

Safety
in Use
Slip Resistance (Note 1)

68

Wet. Values > 40 are considered
safe. 
Abrasion Resistance
(Note 1)

Not tested

Values <23.0 are considered
suitable for use in heavily trafficked
areas
Strength
under load
1) Compression(Note 2)

90.4
MPa

Loaded perpendicular to the
bedding plane ambient humidity
2) Bending (Note 1)

5.6 MPa

Loaded perpendicular to the
bedding plane
ambient humidity

Not tested

Loaded parallel to the
bedding plane
ambient humidity
Porosity
and Water Absorption
1) Porosity (Note 3)

14.3%

2) Saturation Coefficient (Note 3)

0.56

3) Water Absorption

3.5% (by wt)

4) Bulk specific gravity

2272kg/m3

Resistance to Frost 
Flexural strength
after 
Freeze/Thaw Test (Note 1)

5.7 MPa

Loaded perpendicular to the bedding ambient
humidity

Resistance
to Salt
Sodium Sulphate Crystallisation Test
(Note 3) 

-0.26% Mean wt loss

Resistance to Acidity 
Acid Immersion Test(Note 4)  

Pass

(Test methods Note 1 = prEn1341, Note 2 = prEn 1342, Note 3 = prEn 1341 /BRE 141, Note 4 = BRE 141)

Tests were carried out at BRE in 2000

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