An-Najah Staff

This paper reports on a study carried out to assess the structural stability of historical buildings and proposes urgent interventions and consolidation priorities of vulnerable structure. The study was undertaken mainly on the historic center of Kour village and on few buildings in Nablus old city. The studied areas contain old buildings of high significances to Palestinian built cultural heritage however, due to lack of needed funds to carry out elaborate studies of conservation and structural restoration, the study urgent intervention and consolidation. The estimates damage of old masonry buildings was assessed and classified according to the European Maro Seismic scale (EMS-98). In addition, the study surveyed the historic site and produced tables that include information about the structural type, utilization, architectural configuration, etc. for buildings. Based on the damage and decay causes, field assessment revealed that old masonry buildings suffer from several types of damage and deterioration, flat vault’s collapse corner detachment, large permanent deformation, façade detachment, remarkable split at the base of the pillars, slipping between the arch blocks, missing stones … etc. investigations also revealed that several old masonry buildings are expected to suffer very heavy structural damage in the near future, and most of them will have a total collapsed under the influence of moderate earthquakes. In the light of structural conditions of the old masonry building and their seismic vulnerability classes, the study contains important conclusions and recommendations to ensure stability and needed stiffness for each damaged buildings. The paper also indicates emergency consolidation plan taking into consideration the consolidation priorities.