Title : RETROFITTING OF HERITAGE BUILDING “UJJAYANTA PALACE” IN AGARTALA – A CASE STUDY
Authors : Supratim Bhowmik(1), Somnath Shil(1) Dipankar Bhowmik(2) and S. Seetharaman(1)
Publication : 13th – 16th February 2013
Volume :
Pages : 8-Jan
Price : 250
Abstract : Ujjayanta Palace, standing in the heart of Agartala city, in Tripura, a famous royal house, covering an area of 1 sq. km. and styled in Greek sculpture, was built by Maharaja Radhakishore Manikaya in 1901. The two-storeyed palace has a mixed architecture with three high domes (the center one being 26 m high). Ujjayanta Palace, a declared heritage building, has been in existence for the past 110 years and the environmental effects have taken their toll. A detailed survey of the existing structure and the surrounding soil strata was made. The properties of the building materials were assessed using modern techniques. The soil was found to be prone to liquefaction in the event of an earthquake. It was decided to carry out extensive retrofitting of the palace without in any way altering its architectural features. The criteria adopted for undertaking the retrofitting was to permit the structure to undergo deformation without brittle failure or loss of life during design basis earthquake and to limit the damage to minor repairable cracks when the structure was subjected to maximum considered earthquake. In this paper, details of the assessment of the palace structure and the environment are presented. Further, a comprehensive description of the retrofitting techniques adopted and their efficacy are explained.