A few months ago I made a publication about the cathedral of Maracaibo, describing a little of its origin, its great historical value and its architectural design, which you can see here.
Recently there was an alarm call due to the fall of one of the bells that exist for more than 300 years, these bells that until these days were ringing in signal of some hours of the day.
Unfortunately they have fallen silent due to the structural failure of the support elements that have been suffering for years due to incident factors in their deterioration.
A technical visit was made to assess the damage, collect all the relevant data and then present a rapid solution to the problem.
The bell tower of the cathedral has a height of more than 22 metres and the bells are approximately 20 metres high, so the access to reach them was through wooden stairs that run along the inside of the tower with more than 100 steps,
As we climbed some of the steps creaked due to the age of the wood, fortunately we had safety equipment such as a helmet and a harness in case of any unforeseen event.
We observed one of the bells collapsed to the ground because its support collapsed and was no longer able to support its weight. We also noted the need for fumigation against termites, which seems to have been one of the most important factors of deterioration.
Once we arrived at the point where the other bell still remains, it was observed that its support beams, made of wood with a rectangular section of 26x15 centimetres, were fractured and required rapid replacement of the elements.
After taking measurements, making a photographic record and obtaining as much data as possible, the time has come to generate a solution that responds to the requirements of the situation. Taking into account that the request from the church authorities is to repair the bell tower as soon as possible, as it represents a safety risk for visitors to the cathedral, it was decided that a solution would be found.
Bell tower view plan, measurements in metres.
The procedure had to be as simple and economical as possible, and the working area does not offer much freedom, so it would be difficult to gin up the bronze bell weighing 500 kilos, take it down and put it back up again.
An analysis was made of the wooden beams that support the stirrup where the bell is fastened, it was determined that these elements were in optimal conditions and would be used to support a metallic structure made up of tubular profiles of square section 100 x 100 millimeters and rectangular sections of 140 x 65 millimeters, whose ends will have a metallic plate of 200 x 200 millimeters, with holes which will allow to be bolted and assembled on site whose purpose will be to connect a winch with a hook and thus raise 100 to 150 millimeters the bell so that it stops resting on the fractured element and allows the quick replacement of this wooden beam.
Structural proposal plan
Once the 500 kilogram bell has been replaced, the 500 kilogram bell will be attached to the new support without problems, the metal structure will have to be disassembled for dismantling.
This metallic structure can be reused to raise the bell, once the pertinent elements have been replaced, to the center of the tower.
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