Issue 40

M. Mentzini, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 40 (2017) 95-107; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.40.09 95 Focussed on Recent advances in “Experimental Mechanics of Materials” in Greece Structural interventions on the drums of the Parthenon’s north colonnade Marilena Mentzini Structural Engineer, Ph.D., Ministry of Culture and Sports, Greece mmentzini@culture.gr A BSTRACT . The Acropolis monuments are globally recognized as a cultural heritage and a value belonging not only to Greece but also to Humanity. From 2000 the most recent phase of restoration in their history began by the “Acro- polis Restoration Service” (YSMA), introducing new, pioneering methods, re- cognized now worldwide. Especially the restoration of the Parthenon’s North Colonnade is an enormous work-plan to be carried out (extended area of inter- vention, great number of members to be restored and high degree of damages). Moreover, the structural stability of the Parthenon’s north colonnade is among the most important challenges confronted by experts working in this sector. The complexity of this effort (a combination of scientific research and direct field application) makes the implementation of the restoration project difficult, rendering its division into smaller projects (for similar structural members) a necessity. In this direction, characteristic examples of the procedure followed for the structural intervention on the drums are presented in this paper. Each member’s report includes a short history of its restoration, the intervention steps, pictures/sketches and the methodology chosen for its structural study, focusing on the particularities of the member and the in-field realization [1]. K EYWORDS . Classical Monuments; Drums; Fracture; Restoration; Titanium reinforcement, Parthenon, Acropolis of Athens Citation: Mentzini. M., Structural intervention on the drums of the Parthenon’s north colon- nade, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 40 (2017) 95-107. Received: 16.01.2017 Accepted: 12.03.2017 Published: 01.04.2017 Copyright: © 2017 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. I NTRODUCTION he determination of the reinforcement required to join together multi-fragmented structural members is a prerequi- site for properly restoring the member’s structural stability and also for preventing further damages. For the structural restoration of the monuments of the Acropolis of Athens a pioneer method has been developed, already from the early seventies. According to this method fragments of authentic marble or/and supplements of new marble are joined together using titanium bars and suitable cement mortar [2]. The final target is to reach the capacity which corresponds to the maximum load expected to be exerted on the particular member after the completion of the project (taking into account all possible future interventions). This approach is preferred T