One of the fountains of Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas (USA), made of

Convegno “Le risorse lapidee dall’antichità ad oggi in area mediterranea, 25 – 27 settembre 2006 Canosa di Puglia (Bari)
UN CASO DI DEGRADO ACCELERATO DI PIETRA LECCESE: LA FONTANA
DELL'HOTEL BELLAGIO DI LAS VEGAS (NEVADA, USA)
G. C. Calò1, M. Lettieri2, D. Melica2, G. Quarta2, R. Tinelli1
1
2
Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italia
CNR-IBAM, Lecce, Italia
One of the fountains of Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas (USA), made of Lecce stone, was
strongly affected by degradation few months after its construction. This study intend to
establish the causes of the decay detected on the stone surfaces of the fountain. To this
aim the following analyses were performed: observations by optical microscope on
either thin or cross sections, observations of morphological features by environmental
scanning electron microscope, X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy, pyrolysis gas chromatography / mass spectrometry analysis, determination
of soluble salts content by ion chromatography, determination of carbonate content.
A great amount of salts into the stone was detected; the salts led to many cracked zones
and phenomena of grain detachment; furthermore, in the superficial layer of the analyzed
material an acrylic resin, probably applied to consolidate the stone, was identify. Both
the salts and the acrylic resin, acting as synergistic factors, were able to enhance stone
damage.