Resumen de Identification of pathologies and geotechnical characterization of building materials of the palace El Badia (Marrakech, Morocco)

N. Gamrani, K. R'kha Chaham, M`hammed Ibnoussina, Faissal Cherradi Akbil, A. Marou

• Located in the north-east of the Kasbah district, the sumptuous palace El Badia was built in 1578 by the Sultan saâdien Ahmed El Mansour Eddahbi. It represents one of the rarest vestiges of Saadienne�s era. But, unfortunately; nowdays, only a vast enclosure with the ruins of old houses remain of El Badia palace. The complex is constructed in adobe, a material which major drawback is its extreme sensitivity to environmental and atmospheric conditions.

  Our work fits into a comprehensive backup and restore, which aim is to respect the authenticity of the monument. Attention is first given to the geotechnical characterization of the materials used and, their provenance, and then to the analysis of degradation and understanding of the processes that are responsible.

  The description and the analysis of the chamber�s degradation showed several types of pathology that we ordered depending on the nature of the processes responsible: i-structural damage; ii-degradation due to water; biodegradations, iii- The geotechnical tests performed on the land�s material show that it is essentially serious, since it contains a small clay fraction (5%) of which test reveals a blue inactive. The fraction less than 4 mm is also little plastic wholesale and belongs to the class of silt and organic soils (Lp, Op).

  Compared to mature peaks, the parties basal present high levels in water (10-16% basis;

  summit from 1 to 4%.) Coupled with high percentages of lime carbonate (base 31%; 19%).

  These differences demonstrate the importance of water capillaries in the process of degradation of the monument.

  Finally, mineralogical analysis by X-ray diffraction revealed the presence of quartz, calcite, micas and clay minerals (Illite and Vermiculite).