| Abstrakt: |
Qasr El-Emara, located in the center of the old city on Al-Wajh on the Red Sea coast, is an important historical coral building in the north of Saudi Arabia. This research aims to diagnose the current conservation state of Qasr El-Emara and to identify the building materials (stone, mortar, plaster and timber), the construction method and the deterioration and degradation effects on the Qasr El-Emara building. To achieve these objectives, we used a number of investigation and analysis methods, such as: field observations (visual examination), optical microscopy (OM), polarized microscopy (PM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique and image analysis (Sigma Scan Pro.5 of SPSS Inc.). The main building materials of Qasr El-Emara were identified as follow: limestone coral (three species), lime, gypsum mortar, two different plaster layers (external and internal lime plaster), and tamarisk wood, used for timbers and dormers. Random rubble (un-coursed) was the construction method. The most important aspects of damage we observed were the loss of mortar between the stone blocks, the loss of the external plaster layer, observed especially in the lower part of the building, spread cracks in the plaster layer and in the walls with partial collapses, and surface damage of the timber used for the construction of the main façade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
