by Hassan S.A. Mahmoud
ABSTRACT
Al-Shafi’i mosque, one of the most important heritage buildings at historic Jeddah, is located in the center of the historic district in Mahallat al- Mazlum. The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics and quality of the construction materials of the multiple-leaf stone masonry walls at Al-Shafi’i mosque, and to diagnose and evaluate their current preservation/degradation state. For the study purpose, standard laboratory physical and mechanical testing including apparent porosity, bulk density, water absorption, uniaxial compressive strength and flexural strength were conducted for the collected samples. On the other hand, mineralogical, chemical, petrographical, and morphological characterization methodology applied comprises a large range of investigation and analysis techniques that complement each other, and namely include visual inspection, optical microscopy (OM), polarizing microscopy (PM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached with EDX unit and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) technique. The followed integrated diagnostic methodology based upon on-site direct observation data allowed the identification of the mineral-chemical composition, mineralogical characteristics, morphology features, physical–mechanical properties and the actual state of inorganic construction materials of the inner and external leaves of the multiple-leaf masonry walls, which were found to be fossiliferous limestone, coral stone and mud-lime mortar. These results provide very useful information to plan the necessary conservation measures.
