Question

Coursed stone masonry has __________ joints while ashlar masonry has _________ joints.

(a) Thin, thin

(b) Thick, thick

(c) Thick, thin

(d) Thin, thick

I got this question in a national level competition.

This question is from Load Bearing Walls in chapter Load Bearing Walls of Construction & Building Materials

Answer 1

Right choice is (c) Thick, thin

To elaborate: Coursed stone masonry requires thick joints while ashlar masonry requires thin joints. This is because coursed stone masonry uses stones of irregular shapes and sizes whereas ashlar masonry uses finely dressed stones of proper shapes and sizes.