The 'Maagdentoren' of Zichem (Belgium) : damage assessment of ferruginous sandstone by X-ray tomography

The ferruginous sandstone of the gothic “Maagdentoren” is suffering from a specific biological deterioration process triggered by perforating activities of mason bees. The damage due to these perforations causes extensive loss of material, so that a durable conservation of such degraded stone blocs becomes questionable. In order to evaluate the conservation possibilities of stone blocs damaged by perforating mason bees, an investigation of the internal structure by means of X-ray tomography was carried out. This investigation revealed that the cumulative effect of the digging work by multiple... Mehr ...