New Developments for Sustainable Exploitation of Ornamental Stone in Carrara Basin

The use of natural stone has historical and environmental value that makes it strategically valuable for landscape conservation in Europe. Marble, among others, is widely spread on Earth, offering high-performance features in architectural applications. However, the complexity of these formations and the rock variability in different ore bodies require detailed studies of the natural and induced stress state, the fracturing degree, and the influence of external factors (such as temperature and/or chemical agents) on the mechanical properties to optimize the exploitation processes by reducing extractive waste. This article shows a series of studies conducted by the authors over the last 20 years aimed at making the exploitation of marble blocks in the Carrara basin safer, more efficient, and, therefore, more sustainable. In particular, studies for increasing our knowledge of the natural and the induced stress state through on-site measurements and numerical modelling, studies to improve the quality of the exploited material through improvements of cutting technologies, studies to improve the knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of the material under varying loads and temperature conditions, and studies to improve the reuse of water materials and their reduction are reported.