On-Site Stress Measurement on the Piers of the Saint Jacobs Church in Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

The construction of the Saint Jacobs Church dates from 1220. During several subsequent building phases, the Romanesque church has been replaced and extended by a church in early Gothic style. Because of the location of the church, constructed on a swamp, and the unforeseen additional vertical loading on the columns of the main nave, large differential settlements took place. During a research campaign, the resulting stresses are determined both numerically and experimentally, based on a minor destructive “hole-drilling technique.” Numerical determination allows the deduction of the principal stresses (magnitude and direction) in stone masonry. The experimental technique is presented and the results are compared with the outcome of a comparative numerical analysis. The quality of the experimental technique and the usefulness of the on-site methodology in the framework of cultural heritage are presented and discussed.