Investigation on Alamparai Fort by Utilization of Organic Materials for Improvement of Stability of Heritage Structure

Abstract

Heritage structures are valuable monuments to describe the culture and traditions of the country. These heritage structures get deformed in today's scenario by natural or artificial disasters. Hence, to preserve these heritage structures, restoration was introduced to restore the ancient building with new binding agents. Rehabilitation can take place only by analysing the properties of existing structures. Based on the existing structure properties, the alternative binding agent selected; can regain the same strength and shape of the heritage structures. Based on these, the restoration of Alamparai fort was performed by analysing the fort materials using mortar strength analysis by core-drilling, double punch test, and small-scale masonry test. The arch properties are also analysed by performing seismic analysis based on the mortar strength properties. The stability analysis of the organic and existing materials shows that Gur and haritaki is the best agent for restoring the fort. Hence, the mortar strength and seismic analysis of these materials performed using diagonal shear test and seismic modelling of the fort. The proposed material strength tests results indicate that the Gur and Haritaki is the best agent to restore the fort. The fort was restored with these materials; it survived in Nivar cyclone crossed on 26th November 2020.