Experts say trusses may be damaging Mandvi

Vadodara: The steel trusses erected to support the iconic Mandvi pavilion may have harmed the structure rather than protecting it. Experts say the girders have been placed at the centre of the arches, increasing the stress on the arches and causing the cracks.
The steel trusses were set up to support the pavilion after a pillar started falling apart. The severity of the damage to Mandvi did not become public until more material fell off from a pillar and its fragile condition was evident for all to see. It was clear that the pillar was crumbling and had vertical cracks in it.
A prominent structural expert from the city, I I Pandya, said that arches transfer the load to the abutments on their sides. "The trusses at the centres of the arches create a reverse point load on the arches, leading to cracks. The supports have been placed wrongly and should have been on the sides. There are other methods to manage the situation," said Pandya.
The cracks were noticed by citizens who raised concerns. They said the cracks were due to the crumbling pillar or because the structure was overall becoming weak. Nobody expected that the trusses may have caused them.
Co-convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Sanjeev Joshi, visited the site and examined the damage to the pillar as well as the cracks. Joshi said he saw two arches developing cracks and photographed them.
"The supports will have to be removed immediately, or else the cracks will widen. They are creating stress on the arches, causing the cracks," Joshi said. INTACH has written to the VMC about the trusses. Mandvi was examined by VMC officials as well as experts again on Tuesday.
VMC executive engineer Rajendra Vasava said that the supporting framework was erected by an agency with experience in working on heritage structures. "We have asked officials of the Archaeological Survey of India to get the monument examined by their experts. We will work according to their guidance and have sought names of agencies working on such structures from them," he said.
Vadodara: The steel trusses erected to support the iconic Mandvi pavilion may have harmed the structure rather than protecting it. Experts say the girders have been placed at the centre of the arches, increasing the stress on the arches and causing the cracks.
The steel trusses were set up to support the pavilion after a pillar started falling apart. The severity of the damage to Mandvi did not become public until more material fell off from a pillar and its fragile condition was evident for all to see. It was clear that the pillar was crumbling and had vertical cracks in it.
A prominent structural expert from the city, I I Pandya, said that arches transfer the load to the abutments on their sides. "The trusses at the centres of the arches create a reverse point load on the arches, leading to cracks. The supports have been placed wrongly and should have been on the sides. There are other methods to manage the situation," said Pandya.
The cracks were noticed by citizens who raised concerns. They said the cracks were due to the crumbling pillar or because the structure was overall becoming weak. Nobody expected that the trusses may have caused them.
Co-convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Sanjeev Joshi, visited the site and examined the damage to the pillar as well as the cracks. Joshi said he saw two arches developing cracks and photographed them.
"The supports will have to be removed immediately, or else the cracks will widen. They are creating stress on the arches, causing the cracks," Joshi said. INTACH has written to the VMC about the trusses. Mandvi was examined by VMC officials as well as experts again on Tuesday.
VMC executive engineer Rajendra Vasava said that the supporting framework was erected by an agency with experience in working on heritage structures. "We have asked officials of the Archaeological Survey of India to get the monument examined by their experts. We will work according to their guidance and have sought names of agencies working on such structures from them," he said.