Seismic reinforcement of historical building - Monument Plaza Carmo - Lisbon, Portugal

The ruins of this gothic church are evocative reminders of the devastation left by the 1755 earthquake. At the time of the earthquake, it was the largest church in Lisbon, but today the roofless nave open to the sky is all that remains of the arches and rubble that caved in on the congregation as they were attending mass. In what used to be the main altar is now a small archaeological museum with an eclectic collection of tombs (the largest one is of King Ferdinand I), statuary, ceramics, and mosaics. Among the more ancient finds is a remnant from a Visigothic pillar and a Roman tomb carved with reliefs depicting the Muses. Other noteworthy pieces include shrunken heads, South American mummies, a jasper sculpture of the Virgin Mary, ancient tombstones, Visigothic artifacts, and coins dating back to the 13th century.

On this page

Topic
Seismic reinforcement of historical building
Object
Monument Plaza Carmo
City
Lisbon
State
Lisbon
Country
Portugal
Date
Duration
6 Months

Situation

The owner of this historical monument, the Ruin Carmo museum, decided to repair the main wall and arches, restoring the original monument wall and stones on the facade. One of the decisions made by the project team was increasing some security to the arches since some small stones were falling down, resulting in a security issue for visitors. At the same time it was needed to upgrade the reinforcement to add strength in the arch direction by suspending the arch with a carbon grid reinforced mortar.

Solution

The solution was apply two layers of S&P ARMO-mesh integrated in a lime mortar and anchored to the arch by carbon anchors and ARMO aluminium anchors in different regions along the arch. Some of the main benefits included the ease of installation, low weight, no corrosion and the capabilities of the materials used.

Owner - Carmo Archaeological museum.
Conservation and restauration - Gabinete do Patrimonio Conservação e Restauro
Structural engineering/job site orientation - Instituto da Construção da Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto
Architecture - Victor Mestre and Sofia Aleixo Arquitectos 
Scaffolding - System Andaimes 

Material

S&P ARMO-mesh 200/200

17 000 kg S&P ARMO-mur

65 Carbon anchors

22 cartridges ResEP-16

S&P ARMO anchoring element ALU

Contact

S&P Clever Reinforcement Switzerland

S&P Clever Reinforcement Company AG Headquarters

Seewernstrasse 127
6423 Seewen
Switzerland