Physical, mechanical and mineralogical properties of ophiolitic rocks at the Yakakayi dam site, Eskisehir, Turkey

This paper presents the physical, mechanical and mineralogical properties of ophiolitic rocks from Yakakayi dam site located 25 km away from the northern part of Eskisehir province. The collected samples were subjected to petrographic analyses and physico-mechanical tests. The most important engineering characteristic of rock material for rock characterization and design is its intrinsic strength, which is directly determined by unconfined compression strength (UCS) test. The rock, which units at the dam site are ophiolitic rocks of Upper Cretaceous in age and terrace, talus and alluvium of Quaternary age. The aim of this study is to determine the engineering, slake durability (SD) properties and petrography of ophiolitic rocks at Yakakayi dam site. The laboratory test results indicate that the mean UCS value of ophiolitic rocks as basalts is 63.02 MPa, limestones is 15.69 MPa, radiolarians is 28.37 MPa and serpentines is 13.47 MPa. Also, slake durability index properties of ophiolitic rocks are in high class.