Strengthening and performance assessing historical cinema hall balcony according to new Turkish Earthquake Code

Abstract

Strengthening historical buildings and evaluating their performances make great contributions to both the history of the country and the tourism of the country. In this study, performance analysis and evaluations of the historical cinema hall balcony, which was built in 1933 by a French company and served to Zonguldak province for a long time, are presented in detail. This cinema hall was frequently used by local people between 1933 and 1999 and hosted many Yeşilçam movies. Firstly, examinations were performed in the historical cinema hall and the areas (columns, beams and floors) that were damaged in time were identified. According to the obtained information, it was determined that there were significant damages in the carrier system of the building and there were visible cracks and damages in the columns of the cinema hall. It was also observed that explosions occurred in one of the main carrier columns of the balcony. After the core samples taken from the balcony were tested in the laboratory, the current status of the carrier elements and reinforcements were determined with the help of an x-ray rebar scanner. After all these processes, the structure was modeled as three dimensional (3D) using a special computer program and performance evaluations were performed regarding the current state of the structure. As a result of the performance evaluation, it was determined that the balcony of the historical cinema hall could not survive anymore and would collapse over time. It was concluded that there were great damages especially on the balcony columns and a reinforcement should be made on a total of 6 columns. Strengthening was made to 4 different main columns and a performance analysis was performed again in strengthened structure. After strengthening, it was understood that the columns of the balcony of the cinema hall could survive for a long time.