Abstract
Travertine is a white to brown natural building stone characterized by random holes and veins that give it a “swiss cheese” surface appearance. It has been used extensively as an exterior cladding material in the United States for the past 30 years. While travertine cladding has had a disproportionate number of failures, seldom has this been entirely the fault of the inherent defects in the travertine but rather misuse of the material. Even today the physical properties of travertine are not well understood by designers; failures are often due to errors in support/ anchorage design and architectural detailing. This paper is based on investigations of exterior travertine cladding failures on various buildings throughout the eastern United States. Problems common to travertine cladding are presented so as to provide a better understanding of travertine's properties and to critically examine past mistakes.
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