Support failure in bell tower
A few months ago I made a publication about the cathedral of Maracaibo, describing a little of its origin, its great historical value and its architectural design, which you can see here.
Recently there was an alarm call due to the fall of one of the bells that exist for more than 300 years, these bells that until these days were ringing in signal of some hours of the day.
Unfortunately they have fallen silent due to the structural failure of the support elements that have been suffering for years due to incident factors in their deterioration.
A technical visit was made to assess the damage, collect all the relevant data and then present a rapid solution to the problem.
The bell tower of the cathedral has a height of more than 22 metres and the bells are approximately 20 metres high, so the access to reach them was through wooden stairs that run along the inside of the tower with more than 100 steps,
As we climbed some of the steps creaked due to the age of the wood, fortunately we had safety equipment such as a helmet and a harness in case of any unforeseen event.
We observed one of the bells collapsed to the ground because its support collapsed and was no longer able to support its weight. We also noted the need for fumigation against termites, which seems to have been one of the most important factors of deterioration.
Once we arrived at the point where the other bell still remains, it was observed that its support beams, made of wood with a rectangular section of 26x15 centimetres, were fractured and required rapid replacement of the elements.
After taking measurements, making a photographic record and obtaining as much data as possible, the time has come to generate a solution that responds to the requirements of the situation. Taking into account that the request from the church authorities is to repair the bell tower as soon as possible, as it represents a safety risk for visitors to the cathedral, it was decided that a solution would be found.
Bell tower view plan, measurements in metres.
The procedure had to be as simple and economical as possible, and the working area does not offer much freedom, so it would be difficult to gin up the bronze bell weighing 500 kilos, take it down and put it back up again.
An analysis was made of the wooden beams that support the stirrup where the bell is fastened, it was determined that these elements were in optimal conditions and would be used to support a metallic structure made up of tubular profiles of square section 100 x 100 millimeters and rectangular sections of 140 x 65 millimeters, whose ends will have a metallic plate of 200 x 200 millimeters, with holes which will allow to be bolted and assembled on site whose purpose will be to connect a winch with a hook and thus raise 100 to 150 millimeters the bell so that it stops resting on the fractured element and allows the quick replacement of this wooden beam.
Structural proposal plan
Once the 500 kilogram bell has been replaced, the 500 kilogram bell will be attached to the new support without problems, the metal structure will have to be disassembled for dismantling.
This metallic structure can be reused to raise the bell, once the pertinent elements have been replaced, to the center of the tower.
Thanks for reading me! I hope you enjoyed it.
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Awesome work! Isn't it a great pride to be part of the engineering team tasked to repair those damaged bell supports @carlosp18? So to clarify, are the supports now made of the much-stronger metal instead of wood, or are they just temporary until a final solution is resolved?
Certainly more than pride we are pleased to support the city, so little by little everything is getting better.
The proposed steel structure will be temporary, so that the damaged element can be replaced by a similar wooden one and the original design can be reinstated.
Okay I see. That makes sense to me now. Originality always wins at the end of the day! 😊
Impressive bell, I don't know if it will be one of the biggest but 500kg is a lot of weight to support.
I hope you find a solution to everything, 300 years of history should not be lost.
Greetings
We are committed to preserving the historical heritage of the city, making sure that any necessary intervention is as non-invasive as possible. Thanks!
Greetings @carlosp18, I wish that the serious situation can be resolved, this is a big job even if you say it should be simple and economical, although I understand what you mean. Sticking to budget sometimes costs but from your explanation and analysis you are confident that they will do an excellent job 👍 Success!
Exactly, sometimes it happens that we are limited by budget issues, especially when it comes to public administration. However, this does not mean that the designs and execution of works will be of poor quality.
Congratulations @carlosp18! We are delighted to inform you that your outstanding publication was specially selected to be part of our Curated Content Catalog and was awarded RUNNER-UP in Architecture Anthology™ 10. More power!
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