GROUND PENETRATING RADAR INVESTIGATIONS FOR ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE PRESERVATION OF THE HABIB SAKAKINI PALACE, CAIRO, EGYPT

The modern architectural heritage of Egypt is both varied and vast. It covers all nonecclesiastical buildings, important monumental structures (mansions, municipal buildings) in the history of architecture, as well as more common buildings. They include houses (from mansions to simple dwellings), public buildings (schools, administrative buildings, hospitals), industrial buildings (factories, warehouses, mills), bridges, monastic dependencies (drinking foundations, gardens) and any other modern structures that fall within the category of monuments and comprise the Egyptian cultural heritage. We present herein a comprehensive Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) investigation and hazard assessment for the rehabilitation and strengthening of Habib Sakakini’s Palace, in Cairo, considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Egypt. The palace is located on an ancient water pond at the eastern side of the Egyptian gulf, beside the Sultan Bebris Al-Bondoqdary mosque, a place also called “Prince Qraja al-Turkumany pond”. That pond was drained by Habib Sakakini in 1892, to construct his famous palace in 1897. Eight hundred meters of Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) profiling were conducted, to monitor the subsurface conditions. 600 meters were made in the surrounding area of the Palace and 200 m at the basement. The aim was to monitor the soil conditions beneath and around the Palace and to identify potential geological discontinuities, or the presence of faults and cavities. A suitable single and dual antenna were used (500-100 MHZ) to penetrate to the desired depth of 7 meters (ASTM D6432). The GPR was also used to detect the underground water. At the building basement the GPR was used to identify the foundation thickness and the soil - basement interface, as well as for the inspection of cracks in some supporting columns, piers and masonry walls. All the results, together with the seismic hazard analysis, will be used for a complete analysis of the palace in the framework of the rehabilitation and strengthening works planned for a second stage

Uniaxial and Triaxial Creep Performance of Calcarenitic and Sandy Oolitic Limestone Formations for Stability Analysis of Roman Rock-Cut Tombs in Alexandria, Egypt

The Greek-Roman rock-cut tombs at Alexandria, Egypt, were excavated mainly in the calcarenitic limestone formations and show varying degrees of damage of rock pillars and ceilings. In order to understand the long-term rock mass behaviour in selected tombs and its impact on past failures and current stability, uniaxial and triaxial Creep tests and rock mass quality assessments had been carried out. Creep behavior of rock plays an important role in underground works, especially for archeological structures subjected to large initial stresses. These conditions yield nonreversible deviatoric creep strains that develop during time at constant stress. In order to describe the time-dependent deformation, various approaches have been established based on analytical, empirical, and numerical methods. Our analyses show that the Roman tombs at Alexandria have been cut into poor quality rock masses. Rock failures of ceilings and pillars were frequently facilitated by local, unfavourably oriented persistent discontinuities, such as tension cracks and joints. Other failures were related to the disintegration of calcarenitic and oolitic limestones. Our data suggest that, in Roman age monumental tomb construction, low-strength rock masses resulted in modifications of the planned tomb design in order to minimise the risk of rock falls and to prevent collapses

A Foreword from the Editor-in-Chief

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Three-Dimensional Stability Analysis of the Central Rotunda of the Catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa, Alexandria, Egypt

A three-dimensional numerical model has been proposed of the central Rotunda of the catacombs of Kom El-Shoqafa with its six supporting rock pillars, excavated in sandy oolitic limestone deposit. The model was based on a 3D realistic simulation of the problem geometry. The required input for the analysis (strength and deformability of the rock materials) was derived from laboratory tests and empirical assessments. The rock mass in general is normally widely jointed (\u3e 1 m). In the analysis it is considered as an un-jointed homogeneous medium with low strength. Where 2D analysis fails to model properly the column behaviour, we use 3D modeling to evaluate the stress state in the supporting rock pillars of the excavated Rotunda, taking into account their 3D arrangement.. The results of the numerical analysis on the central supporting Rotunda show that some surface subsidence was induced during excavation of the catacombs. In particular, the displacement developed at the surface above the Rotunda reaches a maximum of 3 mm. This numerical result corroborates the observed displacements in the underground structures and the surface subsidence. The first part of this paper presents a comprehensive geotechnical survey undertaken in the archaeological site, comprising geophysical ambient noise measurements along with field and short- and long-term laboratory experiments, in order to define the physical, mechanical and dynamic properties of the soils and soft rock materials. The second part presents the main results of the detailed 3D numerical analysis of these underground monuments, using an advanced soil-rock elastoplastic modelin

Seismic Hazard and Geophysical Investigations for Architectural Heritage Preservation in Egypt: The Case of Habib Sakakini Palace

The modern architectural heritage of Egypt is rich, and extensively variable. It covers all kinds of monumental structures from palaces, public buildings, residential and industrial buildings, to bridges, springs, gardens and any other modern structure, which falls within the definition of a monument and belongs to the Egyptian cultural heritage. We present herein a comprhensive geophysical survey and seismic hazard assesment for the rehabilitation and strengthening of Habib Sakakini’s Palace in Cairo, which is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Egypt. The palace located on an ancient water pond at the eastern side of Egyptian gulf close to Sultan Bebris Al-Bondoqdary mosque, a place also called “Prince Qraja al-Turkumany pond”. That pond had been filled down by Habib Sakakini at 1892 to construct his famous palace in 1897. Various survey campaigns have been performed comprising geotechnical and geophysical field and laboratory tests, aiming to define the physical, mechanical and dynamic properties of the building and the soil materials of the site where the palace is founded. All these results together with the seismic hazard analysis will be used for the seismic analysis of the palace response in the framework of the rehabilitation and strengthening works foreseen in a second stage. We present herein the most important results of the field campaign and the definition of the design input motion

The Structure and Psychometric Properties of Wellness for A Sample of Teachers in Egypt

The present study attempts to examine the structure of wellness for a sample of teachers in Egypt and examine psychometric properties of wellness Inventory. The study questions addressed are: is the structure of wellness multidimensional or uni-dimensional?, Is wellness inventory has appropriate psychometric properties?. A total of 417 teachers from Egypt completed the inventory of wellness, including males (N= 260) and females (N= 157).The teachers ranged in age from 29 to 48 with an average age 36.7 and S.D. 1.7 .  The inventory that used in this study is referred to as the multidimensional organizational wellness inventory (MOWI) (Fasone, 2017), Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used. The results indicates that The structure of wellness is multidimensional which includes physical, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, occupational , and environmental. And the inventory has appropriate psychometric properties. Keywords: Wellness, Reliability, Construct Validity DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-16-04 Publication date: August 31st 201

Unrealistic Optimism Among a Sample of University Students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Cross-cultural Study)

The present study considered as cross-cultural study attempts to examine the psychometric properties of unrealistic optimism in light of the scale used in the study for Egyptian and Saudi Arabia university students and Is the measurement equivalent of the scale terms for Egyptian and Saudi Arabia university students? . A total of (336) male students from university in Egypt and in Saudi Arabia from different specialties completed the scale of unrealistic optimism (prepared by the researchers), Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used. The results indicate that the structure of model of unrealistic optimism is fit and the scale has appropriate psychometric properties. And the result indicate that the unrealistic optimism scale  have the same structure in Egypt and Saudi Arabia , that means the factorial invariance of unrealistic optimism in Egypt and Saudi Arabia . Keywords: Unrealistic optimism, Reliability, Construct validity, Cultural differences. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-24-12 Publication date: December 31st 2019