Reinforcing of a cathedral tower with CFRP laminates

The earthquake of June 23, 2001, that affected most of the southern part of Perú, put in evidence the seismic vulnerability of icons of the cultural heritage of the country. The historical downtown of the city of Arequipa (located at 1000 km to the South of Lima) was heavily affected by the earthquake, with forty percent of its representative buildings suffering damage ranging from moderate to severe with partial collapse. The towers of the cathedral of Arequipa, built integrally with a volcanic stone called sillar, suffered extensive damage. As a consequence, the left tower partially collapsed, whereas, the right tower remained standing but in an unstable condition. This paper describes the reinforcing strategy of the right tower with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates, which were used to provide tensile strength and confinement to the central stone core of the tower. After completing the CFRP installation, carved stones were placed on top of the laminates to keep the original appearance.