Geotechnical Rehabilitation of the Cathedral of Mexico in 2020-2021
Geotechnical Rehabilitation of the Cathedral of Mexico in 2020-2021
Between 1989 and 2001, the Cathedral of Mexico underwent a rehabilitation program to address significant damage caused by large-scale differential settlements resulting from subsoil consolidation, exacerbated by the overexploitation of deep aquifers. The work carried out within the scope of geotechnical engineering resulted in a significant reduction in both differential settlement and the rate of its growth. While this geotechnical program was in progress, structural interventions were implemented to address deficiencies in the structure, such as lateral cover connections, cracking in vaults, walls, and columns, and, finally, foundation reinforcement. The works continued into the first decade of the 21st century. Eventually, a lack of financing led to the suspension of maintenance work and of automated structural performance monitoring. The strong earthquakes of 2017 caused damage to the cathedral complex that was classified as low severity. Consequently, a rehabilitation project was undertaken to repair earthquake damage and perform foundation maintenance. As part of this project, updated topographic surveys were conducted, readings were taken from the installed instrumentation, and new estimates of future settlements were prepared. Finally, a maintenance and remediation strategy was proposed based on the building's current condition.
Eduardo Botero Jaramillo; Efrain Ovando-Shelley; Alexandra Ossa Lopez
4th International Symposium on the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites
Case Histories in Heritage Preservation
https://doi.org/10.53243/tc301-2026-68