The Intervention of Earthen Heritage in Seismic Areas and the Conservation Charters

2010 ◽  
Vol 133-134 ◽  
pp. 727-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Vargas Neumann ◽  
Marcial Blondet ◽  
Carlos Iwaki

Earthquakes are recurring natural phenomena that cause cumulative damage to earth constructions that can lead to their collapse. The discovery of earthen architectural heritage in Peru, has led to the re-exposure of adobe buildings, increasing their vulnerability to seismic activity. How can we prevent protect them from further damage their loss and? Due to their gradual and progressive destruction, earth constructions located in seismic areas constitute a critical and unique case. The structural response of stone masonry joined with mud mortar depends on the weakest of their construction materials: earth. This paper presents the criteria for structural conservation of earthen architectural heritage and tools for seismic-resistant reinforcement developed by field experts during the last 25 years. The concepts of reinforced earth and liquid mud injection, developed by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) with support from the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), are also included in this work. The article also analyzes recent cases of the re-intervention of earth monuments initially restored during the last century and re-destroyed by more recent earthquakes; offers solutions to this situation, ranging from the safest and friendliest to the most aggressive ones. Finally, I concludes expressing the urgent need to reassess the conservation criteria accepted by the International Charters ratified by ICOMOS and UNESCO regarding earthen architectural heritage located in seismic areas.

2010 ◽  
Vol 133-134 ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Julio Vargas Neumann

The acceleration of climate change and the increasing frequency of natural disasters mean that there is an urgent need to adapt conservation strategies for architectural heritage to the world’s new demands and situations. This is particularly relevant for the most vulnerable constructions, such as earthen structures. Because of the dramatic effect that earthquakes can have on architecture, and especially on historical monuments, they have been studied for the past 50 years. Earthquakes divide the world in two very distinct geographic areas: seismic and non-seismic. The seismic vulnerability of earthen architectural heritage, such as earthen structures and mud mortar masonry, evidences in by how weak they are when compared to structures built using other construction materials (10 to 15 times weaker). Humanity’s past experience in the conservation of architectural heritage allows us to be aware of the need to improve and eventually perfect the existing conservation charters, which were discussed and signed in Europe in the last century. These charters do not make a distinction between heritage conservation in seismic and non-seismic areas. It is imperative to address this particular issue, as seismic forces can be too strong for earthen constructions to resist, which can lead to their irreparable collapse. Inspired by the Venice Charter and China´s principles as well as by more modern documents, such as the Burra, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Lausana Charters, researchers have tried to establish adequate and resistant conservation guidelines, based on achieving the best structural performance using a minimum permanent and reversible reinforcement. Although this involves causing some impact on the architectural heritage, it also means that human lives and buildings can be protected. The paper will provide real examples to illustrate these cases and will attempt to outline the conservation principles required to protect vulnerable structures, such as those earthen constructions or mud mortar brick or stone masonry built in seismic areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (17) ◽  
pp. 5821
Author(s):  
Özden Saygılı ◽  
José V. Lemos

The Western Anatolia Region of Turkey is an important region of high seismic activity. The active dynamics of the region are shaped by a compression and expansion mechanism. This active mechanism is still ongoing and causes strong seismic activity in the region. The Frontinus Gate is a monument in the Roman city of Hierapolis of Phrygia located in southwestern Anatolia. The aim of this study is to investigate the seismic behavior of this stone masonry structure using discrete element modeling. For this purpose, nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed to simulate the structural response of the gate under seismic excitation. Deformation, damage, and failure patterns induced in the masonry gate for different levels of seismic action are evaluated and discussed. An earthquake with a return period of 475 years is expected to cause some damage, but no collapse, while for a return period of 2475 years, the models indicate collapse of the monument.


Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 2763-2791
Author(s):  
Osama Amer ◽  
Danila Aita ◽  
Ezzeldin k. Mohamed ◽  
Akram Torky ◽  
Ashraf Shawky

Multi-leaf stone masonry walls are a typical construction technique in architectural heritage in Egypt. The assessment, modeling, and strengthening of historic masonry walls of multi-leaf systems essentially require suitable knowledge of their construction technology, typology, geometrical characteristics, and the properties of their components. Within the current research project, a comprehensive structural survey of multiple-leaf walls of medieval historic buildings in Cairo was performed. The observation and statistical analyses allowed characterization of the transversal section of the surveyed walls, as well as examination and identification of the construction materials and techniques. The slenderness ratios of this type of wall, its blocks’ dimensions, the utilized connectivity between the inner and outer leaves, and leaves ratio were also investigated. Three construction hypotheses of multiple-leaf stone masonry walls are presented considering weak, thick, and monolithic core infill layers. The study’s objectives were to enlarge the knowledge of typology, morphology, and construction materials used in three-leaf masonry walls and provide a proper characterization as a prerequisite for determining the most suitable materials and techniques for further strengthening interventions.


Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Mahmud Ashraf ◽  
Mahbube Subhani ◽  
Paul Kremer

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is now considered a viable alternative to traditional construction materials both in mid-rise and high-rise structures. The structural response of CLT heavily relies on the type of timber used in manufacturing, and this can vary significantly based on the original source for this naturally grown raw material. Spruce has been widely used in Europe for CLT production, but in Australia, locally available radiata pine is used by XLam for the manufacturing of their CLT panels. Self-tapping screws (STS) are typically recommended by CLT manufacturers and are most commonly used in relevant construction due to their high load carrying capacities and easy installation process. VGS STSs produced by Rothoblaas were used to investigate their composite actions when pulled-out from three-layer XLam CLT panels with thicknesses of 105 mm and 135 mm. VGS screws with 11 mm in diameter were inserted both parallel-to-grain and perpendicular-to-grain on the narrow face of the CLT panels as part of the current study. Typical failure modes as well as critical penetration depths were carefully recorded. Obtained results showed significant increase of pull-out capacity as penetration depths were increased for considered cases. However, experimental results also showed some obvious inconsistencies. These observations clearly demonstrate the challenges associated with working naturally grown fibrous materials and highlights the importance of major research on this field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatiha Imane Mahcar ◽  
Belkacem Takhi

Algeria has a rich urban and architectural heritage, which presents regional specificities. Once the ksour was a symbol of balance and perfect harmony with its environment, unfortunately today they no longer reflect their former function. The Ksourian architecture, including that of Laghouat is a prestigious heritage of high value; it is the testimony of genius knowledge and the capacity of their occupants to adapt to the difficult environment. The housing is considered the essential core of this architecture it represents the entire composition of the ksar, its design is inspired by the immediate environment and respects ancestral social values. It is characterized by a simple architecture and simple construction techniques which are based on the construction in load-bearing walls, the construction materials used are local materials of great resistance and less expensive. This study addresses the theme revaluation of heritage, particularly our case study ksar El-Haouita which has experienced a neglecting and depopulation due to several factors. The ksar El-Haouita is among the most famous ksour located in the south of Algeria and exactly in the region of Laghouat. It is built with simple materials and techniques of construction. The construction materials used are local materials like stones and lime found in the environmental surroundings of the ksar. The aim of this study is to identify the major causes of the degradation of ksar, also to preserve ksar El-Haouita through specific operations and to improve the tourist attractiveness of ksar El-Haouita in order to promote heritage, to convert it back into sustainable Saharan tourism. Our study based in the first place; on a theoretical underpinning which contains the notions that have a relation with our theme, the problematic and the envisaged objective, then a presentation of ksar followed by a morphological analysis accompanied by identification of the problems to identify the phenomena of damage and its disfigurement. The last step is to treat an aspect for the development of ksar, this aspect is devoted to the restitution of the defensive system (doors, ramparts, ramparts of houses and towers) of the ksar, through a diagnostic and several operations like (rehabilitation and reconstruction). The aim result of this study is to show that the revaluation of the ksar is a very vast operation and proposes interventions that allow the preservation of the ksar and also to understand the elements that help the success of interventions and to put some of the parameters considered as reference elements and basic principles for the operations on the ksar and among these operations it is (the case study, which is the restitution of the defensive system of ksar El-Haouita).


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiko Kawashima ◽  
Kinji Hasegawa

This paper presents the new seismic design specifications for highway bridges issued by the Ministry of Construction in February 1990. Revisions of the previous specifications were based on the damage characteristics of highway bridges that were developed after the recent earthquakes. The primary revised items include the seismic lateral force, evaluation of inertia force for design of substructures considering structural response, checking the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete piers for lateral load, and dynamic response analysis. Emphasis is placed on the background of the revisions introduced in the new seismic design specifications.


Author(s):  
Marta Giaretton ◽  
Dmytro Dizhur ◽  
Francesca Da Porto ◽  
Jason M. Ingham

Almost all unreinforced stone masonry (URSM) buildings in New Zealand were constructed between 1860 and 1910, typically in regions where natural stone was sourced from local quarries, fields and rivers. These buildings form an important part of the country’s architectural heritage, but the performance of URSM buildings during earthquake induced shaking can differ widely due to many aspects related to the constituent construction materials and type of masonry wall cross-section morphology. Consequently, as a step towards gaining greater knowledge of the New Zealand URSM building stock and its features, an exercise was undertaken to identify and document the country-wide URSM building inventory. The compiled building inventory database includes: (i) general building information, such as address, building owner/tenant and building use; (ii) architectural configuration, such as approximate floor area, number of storeys, connection with other buildings, plan and elevation regularity; and (iii) masonry type, such as stone and mortar types, wall texture and wall cross-section morphology. From this exercise it is estimated that there is in excess of 668 URSM buildings currently in existence throughout New Zealand. A large number of these vintage URSM buildings require detailed seismic assessment and the implementation of seismic strengthening interventions in order to conserve and enhance this component of New Zealand’s cultural and national identity. The entire stock of identified buildings is reported in the appended annex (688 total), including 20 URSM buildings that were demolished following the Canterbury earthquake sequence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Maria-Liliana Marian ◽  

The article represents a research of the traditional houses from the Republic of Moldova specific to the period XVIII - XX centuries. Life, always conditioned by life, is a major program that, in the vernacular architecture of the Republic of Moldova, plays the role of the function of continuity. The main objectives of this article are to bring in heritage practice, beneficial information, both for the historical monument and for architects, specialists and the general public interested in the future of heritage objects, locally or nationally and how they influence the factors of decision involved. The slow transformations, recorded over the last two thousand years, in which we distinguish evidence of its evolution, are the result of slow transformations, both of techniques and instructional materials, as well as of the specific occupations and way of life sec. XVIII - XX. Starting from the semi-buried dwellings, the surface houses with a single level, constituted the architectural solutions with the widest spread on the whole territory of the country, until the middle of the century. XX. The architecture of traditional residential buildings - plan, size and appearance - were influenced by physical, social, historical, geographical conditions, the natural environment and the specifics of the household. The knowledge of the architecture of the traditional house contributes to the reconstruction of some aspects of the ancient culture, inextricably linked to the problem of the continuity of the local population on these lands. In the architecture of the traditional house, the normative thinking, common at the technical level of the society, is combined with the adaptation to the individual requirements. The lack of this information, especially important for those interested in the fate of the architectural heritage, can cause serious damage to the historical monument, namely the loss of structural elements, functional and stylistic elements, elements of composition, volume and structure. The ambiguities can distort the real value of the monuments and even the loss of the value of architectural heritage, so the historical monument becomes vulnerable in the future.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 717-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Altinok ◽  
B. Alpar ◽  
N. Özer ◽  
C. Gazioglu

Abstract. The most earthquake-prone areas in the eastern central Aegean Sea are the Izmir Bay, the Karaburun peninsula and the island of Chios. The level of seismic activity and tsunami potential are influenced by the presence of normal faults around the region. There have been about 20 moderate-size earthquakes from 496 BC to 1949 AD. Among these earthquakes, the ones on the dates 20 March 1389, 13 November 1856, 19/22 January 1866, 3 April 1881 and 23 July 1949 produced tsunamis. The Chios-Cesme earthquake (1881, Mw 6.5) took place in the South of the Cesme strait while the Chios-Karaburun earthquake (1949, Mw 6.7) occurred in the North. The tsunamis caused by the earthquakes affected the coasts of Chios Island and Cesme. These waves are thought to be associated with the earthquakes and co-seismic underwater failures possibly occurred along the coasts of the Chios Island and Karaburun Peninsula or on the complex subaqueous morphology between these lands. Some sea waves or oscillations observed following the aftershocks are believed to be related to other natural phenomena; e.g. the seiches occurred mainly in open-narrow bays as triggered by the earthquakes.


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