KVPT’s Patan Darbar Earthquake Response Campaign - Work to Date - September 2016

Opposite
The third level gallery interior after
construction. Note new timber
posts, beam, and rafters.to the right
and overhead, as well assalvaged
historic carved columns at the left,
outside the sanctum, to support the
new beam.
2012
Below right
Rebuilding of third floor roof
structure: After rafter installation,
eaves boards were fitted with
through mortise and tenon joints.
Traditionally in Newar architecture,
timber pegs are used to secure
the rafters to the eaves beams; here,
rafters were also pinned with stainless
steel rods.
2012
388
Emergency Measures by KVPT Following the
September 2011 Earthquake
KVPT applied in November 2011 to the Cultural Emergency
Response Fund of the Prince Claus Fund, which
agreed to support a program of seismic strengthening
and other repairs to the agam that was undertaken immediately
and was completed by October 2012.
The scope for this project included a number of KVPT’s
typical repairs and minor seismic strengthening measures.
Notably, it also included three structural measures
that were designed specifically for the Taleju Agam
North.
Typical KVPT scope items for this type of construction
which were used at Taleju North included:
. replacement of rotted timbers such as joists, rafters, and
wall plates;
. repairs to timber doors and windows;
.rebuilding of severely damaged brick masonry walls;
. the addition of planking above floor joists and marine
grade plywood above roof planking
. covering both of these with a waterproofing membrane
to brace, unify, and waterproof the structure before relaying
floor or roof tiles on the traditional heavy mud
mortar beds; and
, installation of a concealed drainage system.
Additional damage was identified once the priests of the
agam allowed the structural engineer access to the inner
sanctum, resulting in the decision to rebuild the roof at
the sanctum level to tie it structurally to the inner walls,
incorporating plywood into the roof assembly; and to
rebuild significant areas of masonry.
The photograph of the gallery on the opposite page shows
the careful design and installation of this last measure at
the gallery outside the sanctum, whose historic doorway
ensemble is visible in the brick wall at the left. Salvaged
historic carved timber columns were added next to the
existing columns to double the support structure outside
the sanctum without disturbing the historic configuration.
These columns support a new beam above
the doorway which in turn supports the new rafters of
the gallery roof. A similar doubling was created at the
simpler outer wall using uncarved columns. These measures
(working together with (2) below) allowed the new
roof structure to be tied directly to the cornice embedded
in the walls of the sanctum, unifying the structural
elements of the third level.
The three site-specific seismic additions, described in detail
on the following pages, were:
1) The introduction of diagonal steel members into the
ceiling structure at the gallery level to create a Warren
truss configuration for horizontal bracing;
2) a force-fit transition between the sanctum level cornice
and the adjacent roof structure; and
3) the installation of four interior timber A-frame braces
around the walls of the fourth level (just above the top
of the Mul Cok roof). These designs are described on
the following pages and, in more technical detail, in
the chapter above on Seismic Strengthening of Historic
Newar Buildings.