Patrimonio Nacional, Proyectos y Rehabilitaciones Kalam and Mecanismo Ingeniería have entrusted CIMSSA with the rehabilitation of the Casa del Labrador, after detecting deterioration in its structure, which worsened as a result of the “Filomena” storm.
This Asset of Cultural Interest, located in the Royal Site of Aranjuez, is an original construction from 1790 conceived as a country house for the monarch Charles IV and one of the best neoclassical buildings in Spain. Declared a National Monument in 1931, it is located in the Prince’s Garden, a natural space declared a Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001.
Exceptional construction and restoration work
The work began with remote monitoring via a web-based monitoring system which made it possible to control possible cracks, collapse of perimeter walls, piezometric levels, the humidity, the ambient temperature and structural vibrations.
The most complex phase of the entire intervention was the consolidation and underpinning of the building’s foundations, for which 150 mm diameter micropiles reinforced with steel pipe, injected with an IR injection system and with a length of 15 meters, were executed, crossing the existing foundations with a diamond crown to prevent movements and vibrations to the building.
In areas inaccessible to machinery and equipment, such as the two stairways for access to the upper floor, cement and microcement were injected through a TAM sleeve tube, with low-flow instrumented pumps and parameter control.
For the drilling of all the units, the ELEMEX system was used for the use of compressed air with total safety for the building, since it was not possible to use water for drilling due to the delicate situation of the structure. The use of compressed air for underpinning can add risks of cracking and movement to the structure and the use of the Elemex system has eliminated this risk, making it possible to drill the holes safely and without incidents in the building.
