Historical masonry mortars

Aggelakopoulou, E., Bakolas, A., Moropoulou, A. (2011) Properties of lime-metakolin mortars for the restoration of historic masonries. Applied Clay Science, 53 (1), 15-19. 

Moropoulou A, Bakolas A, Moimdoulas P, Aggelakopoulou E, Anagnostopoulou S. Strength development and lime reaction in mortars for repairing historic masonries. Cem Concr Compos 2005 27 289-94. 

Cailleux, E., and Marie-Victorie, E., Study of Natural Cements from the French Rhone-Alpes Region, report of RILEM Technical Committee 203-RHM Repair Mortars for Historic Masonry, accepted for publication in 2006. 

Bakolas, A., Biscontin G., Moropoulou A. Zendri E. (1995). Characterization of the lumps in the mortars of historic masonry. Thermochimica Acta, 269j270, pp. 809-816... 

Ribbon anodes are also increasingly popular on historic steel framed masonry or brick clad structures where they can be fitted in the mortar joints (see Figure 7.12(b)). 

Probe anodes have been most widely used on highway structures to provide cathodic protection current to steel that cannot be reached from a surface anodes. They have been applied to half joints and to provide current to two faces of shear walls, etc. where the inside face is inaccessible (Figures 7.13(b), 7.10). They are also increasingly applied on historic steel framed masonry or brick clad structures where they can be fitted in the mortar joints. 

Polymers have been used in construction since as long ago as the fourth millennium BC, when the clay brick walls of Babylonia were built using the natural polymer asphalt in the mortar. The temple of Ur-Nina (King of Lagash), at the site of Kish, had masonry foundations built with mortar made from 25-35% bitumen (a natural polymer), loam, and chipped straw or reeds. The walls of Jericho were built using bituminous earth in about 2500-2100 BC. Other historic applications of bituminous mortars in construction... 

KEYWORDS mortar analysis, natural cement, petrography, Rosendale, historic binders, masonry... 

The laboratory should be considered an important member of the preservation team. Retaining a laboratory that performs only routine examinations and has no real experience in historical materials analysis is equivalent to hiring a masonry contractor that only repoints Type N portland-lime mortars and has no experience in placing restoration materials. A brief discussion of the project with the laboratory manager will often reveal volumes about the skill of that laboratory in reverse engineering historical materials. When an experienced laboratory is found, the forensic work should be performed as early as possible as the analyses described above will require several weeks for completion. 

Like lime mortar, natural cement mortars deform as masonry units expand and contract with changes in temperature and moisture levels, relieving stress. In historic restoration work, avoidance of stress to the original building materials is important, as they constitute historic fabric, the key components of historic buildings that are the objects of preservation efforts. 

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