Abstract
This paper presents an investigation of the collapse of a 325-year-old multi-tiered heritage temple during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. The research comprises a reconnaissance survey followed by a geotechnical investigation and numerical back-analysis carried out to understand the potential causes of the collapse. The assessment of the structural configuration of the temple indicated seismic vulnerability in the design due to the presence of discontinuous columns over the height of the temple and age-weakened bonding in the masonry walls. The geotechnical investigation revealed the presence of competent soil strata at the location, assisting the survey which indicated no differential or excessive settlement in the foundation. A series of cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on samples recovered during the geotechnical investigation to determine dynamic behaviour of the soil. Further, dynamic analysis of the plinth of the temple under the recorded acceleration–time history indicated a maximum drift percentage of 1.4% and residual relative displacement of 32 mm suggesting the potential reason behind the collapse. The output of this research will support seismic rehabilitation of ancient structures within World Heritage sites across Nepal and effective action plans to safeguard them against future earthquake hazard.
Highlights
Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is located in the Kathmandu Valley and hosts mediaeval temples that were built centuries ago and is known for their historical and archaeological importance
This study presents an investigation of the causes of the collapse of the Jaisidewal temple structure by performing a reconnaissance survey, geotechnical investigation of the subsoil profile, numerically modelling the temple plinth structure and analysing it under the prescribed earthquake acceleration–time history recorded during 2015 Gorkha earthquake
A modulus reduction curve obtained from Cyclic Triaxial Tests (CTX) was used to represent the degradation of shear modulus of soil with shear strain (γ) in terms of reduction in shear mlowodushluesarrasttiroai(nG(/γG ≤m 5ax ×). 1G0m−a6x).isSitnhcee maximum shear modulus of the SPT test was conducted soil exhibited at very at the site, the maximum shear modulus (Gmax) is estimated by back-calculating the shear wave velocity of soil from SPT-N obtained at the site and using the equation given below: Gmax =
Summary
The capital city of Nepal, is located in the Kathmandu Valley and hosts mediaeval temples that were built centuries ago and is known for their historical and archaeological importance. Kumar et al (2019) performed reconnaissance surveys within the Pashupati and Changu Narayan sites in Kathmandu after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and reported that many of the survived or partially collapsed heritage structures lacked periodic maintenance. Coningham et al (2019) performed a research involving archaeology, geoarchaeology and the civil engineering in Kathmandu after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and emphasised that interdisciplinary collaboration may be able to co-produce and develop a methodology to improve the seismic safety of the world heritage structures. This study presents an investigation of the causes of the collapse of the Jaisidewal temple structure by performing a reconnaissance survey, geotechnical investigation of the subsoil profile, numerically modelling the temple plinth structure and analysing it under the prescribed earthquake acceleration–time history recorded during 2015 Gorkha earthquake. To identify potential causes of the collapse, information on the local subsoil profile and the temple plinth internal structure was collected and synthesised to enable a dynamic analysis of the plinth and subsoil
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