Soil and Structure Response for Abu Serga Church

Abu Serga church is located in the Coptic section of Old Cairo area. It is considered the oldest Coptic Church found in Egypt that represents the cultural heritage of outstanding universal values. It suffers multiple environmental, geotechnical and earthquake hazards.

The integrated geotechnical and geophysical investigation techniques were done to assess the seismic and other geo-environmental hazards and risks that Abu Serga church suffers from in the present and future. This knowledge is required to protect the building against seismic events. Abu Serga church suffers high risk in terms of seismic and environmental hazards. The main purposes of the present study is to: 1) Assess the level of seismic and other geo-environmental hazards at Abu Serga church. 2) Understand the nature of damage to this historic building caused by the recent earthquakes. 3) Offer technical support and advice on the restoration and repairs of the damaged structure. 4) Build up knowledge and case studies towards the restoration and repairs and survey the historic structure's damage state.

However, Abu Serga church is the oldest Coptic church that was constructed with little or no seismic considerations that represent the most enormous risk to most communities. These significant historical buildings must be assessed, their level of risk determined, and unacceptable risks reduced. This paper focuses on the issues associated with detailed risk and hazard assessment procedures for retrofitting architectural heritage. Many forms of evaluation and related procedures for the assessment of seismic risk for historical buildings have been discussed.

This study suggest a moderate level of earthquake activity at Abu Serga church, and this is in a good agreement with the fact that “Egypt is a part of the stable African Shield”, but the existence of old structure such as the Abu Serga church may reduce the ability to resist any earthquake shaking. This pilot study is essential with respect to the continuous efforts to preserve and restore cultural heritage worldwide.

Keywords: Abu Serga church-Cairo, Geophysical Campaign, Geotechnical, Microtremors, Natural Frequency, PGA, SHA.