| An inspection of
the Madrasa revealed some very severe long-standing problems. The floor of
the mosque undulated dramatically, providing evidence of very significant
foundation problems of the masonry vaults supporting the floor. Attempts
had been made in the past to underpin the sleeper walls supporting the
vaults, these had failed. All of the walls of the mosque exhibited very
severe fractures. The problems were brought about by earthquake damage in
October 1992 and by the rising contaminated ground water. Further problems
in the external walls had been caused by the activities of the shopkeepers
trying to enlarge the space available for selling their wares. As a
consequence, sections of masonry have been demolished at ground floor
level to create this additional space. The
net result of the above was that the mosque of al-Ghouri was in a very
delicate state of equilibrium. Despite having survived for nearly 500
years, the toll of a rising water table, earthquakes and neglect had
brought this structure to the point of collapse. Urgent measures were
required to reintroduce some structural strength and stiffness into the
building.
It was understood that the Madrasa was
underpinned by using a system of micropiling. The requirement therefore
remained to tie the elements of the superstructure together. The very high
walls were laterally unrestrained and very vulnerable to lateral forces
such as may be produced by the next earthquake.
Lintel stones
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Seismic damages to decorative arches
Temporary support of the Dikka arches
Vertical shear crack
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