Journal of Architectural Conservation
Volume 13, Issue 1, March 2007
Fired Brick and Sulphate Attack
The Case of Moenjodaro. Pakistan
Enrico Fodde
Paper Summary
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the principal causes of the failure and decay of the archaeological structures of Moenjodaro, a World Heritage Site in Pakistan, and of the low-cost measures adopted for the conservation of its 52 km of exposed walls. Improper past conservation measures and their effects on brick decay were surveyed and highlighted in the context of salts attack. In order to further understand the influence of environmental salts on the durability of fired brick and soil (mud mortar, mud brick capping), an overview of the employment of mud slurry and of poulticing is also provided.
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Figure 4 Cementitious damp proof coursing as applied to this wall of VS area. The DPC is the upper course immediately above the decayed courses. Apart from the loss of the upper courses of historic fabric during the work, such intervention has catastrophic consequences for the lower courses.
Figure 7 The action of soluble salts efflorescence is clearly visible here. First Street, DK-G area.
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Enrico Fodde PhD
Enrico Fodde is lecturer in Sustainable Building Design at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath (UK). He was formerly International Project Director of Moenjodaro (World Heritage Site, Pakistan) and Field Director for the following UNESCO projects: conservation of the Buddhist monastery of Ajina Tepa (Tajikistan), the Silk Road sites of the Chuy Valley in Kyrgyzstan (Krasnaya Rechka, Ak Beshim, Burana), and Otrar Tobe (Kazakhstan).
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