The analysis of the timber roofs of Loreta in Prague

0509027 - ÚTAM 2020 RIV PT eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Nela, B. - Bláha, Jiří - Kloiber, Michal - Kunecký, Jiří
The analysis of the timber roofs of Loreta in Prague.
Proceedings of the International conference on structural health assessment of timber structures, SHATiS’2019. Guimarães: Universidade do Minho, 2019 - (Branco, J.; Poletti, E.; Sousa, H.), s. 217-228. ISBN 978-989-54496-2-0.
[International conference on structural health assessment of timber structures, SHATiS’2019 /5./. Guimarães (PT), 25.09.2019-27.09.2019]
R&D Projects: GA MK(CZ) DG16P02M026
Keywords : health assessment * historic timber structure * loading jack * non-destructive tests * dendrochronology
OECD category: Construction engineering, Municipal and structural engineering

The Loreto of Prague is a remarkable Baroque historic monument, a place of pilgrimage with acaptivating history. Behind the main façade, which is the marvelous work of the famous Dientzenhofers, there is a courtyard with a copy of the St. Mary´s Holy House of Nazareth. Since the placement of the first construction stone in 1626, the Loreto has faced many construction phases with many alterations. The majority of the works progressed between 1698 and 1748 under the supervision of Christoph and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. These alterations also generated some changes in the configuration of the roof structure and in some parts caused even damages. Some of interventions observed on timber frames are not documented and their purpose is not always obvious. For a better understanding, a historical analysis of the Loreto complex was used recently refined by dendrochronological dating of timber roofs elements from different time periods, so the historical chronology of the building could be accomplished. Afterwards, diagnostic tests were conducted on site for the health evaluation of the members to assess their condition. The mechanical parameters are obtained with the new diagnostic tool which is the loading jack and correlates well to the compressive strength parallel to fibers. A structural analysis is performed to evaluate the causes of the deformations on the members. Elements subjected to the diagnostic testing proved relatively good condition with small qualitative differences between individual members. With the structural modeling, it was possible to evaluate their safety and stability and also to assess the effectiveness of their strengthening. The possible causes of their actual deformations are assessed with a brief proposal of eliminating future problems.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0299837