THE INTEGRATED NATURAL SCIENCES APPROACHES TO THE PROTECTION OF MEDIEVAL RUINS

The aim of this paper is to present the Report of innovative restoration techniques, technologies and materials used in conservation in the context of natural sciences and heritage science of the RUINS Project. First, the specifics of preservation and maintenance of ruins are briefly described. Subsequently, the context of natural sciences and the new scientific discipline of heritage science, including the link to innovation, are indicated. The paper then presents the structure of the report and an example of one record representing one specific technique. Record structure is ready to be transferred to versatile data set so it could be converted into an updatable online database in the future.


Introduction -specifics of preservation and maintenance of ruins
According to literature the term ruin means the object preserved in an incomplete state, sometimes deliberately constructed to give the impression of an intact structure that has decayed. Such architecture arises as a result of the loss of the original purpose of the building. Usually these objects were left to long-term deterioration and there was no reason to rebuild or remove them. Inside urban areas ruins are therefore exceptional, because there is an effort to maximize the use of space. In cities there is deliberate devastation of buildings by speculative owners or due to poor maintenance in order to destroy the building and release the land for new construction. This is one of the negative phenomena. Czech preservationist Ondřej Šefců 1 states that ruined constructions in the classical sense are remnants of once remarkable historical buildings with the added value of a romantically perceived gradual disintegration. These buildings lack basic functional elements such as roofs, gutters, windows, doors etc. Determination torso construction, however, is not clear. Monument care must therefore be applied separately to individual buildings. Technical problems to be solved while maintaining the buildings in general: protection against climatic and biological influences and, last but not least, before the people themselves. On the basis of practical experience, some interventions can be designed to help in ruins preservation: 1. Prevent excessive moisture in the building (drainage, runoff, temporary or permanent roofing). 2. Adjacent greenery must be removed, especially if it interferes the remaining masonry with roots. However, this must be done with caution, as roots can support the construction. 3. More distant trees are rather positive and lead to the preservation of the picturesqueness of the site. 4. The consolidation of core masonry, which has not been built to resist weather effects, may also be necessary. 5. In order to make the building accessible, it is necessary to set up new paths, stairs or embedded structures. Social or technical background is also essential. All these structures, however, should minimize the impact on the historic values as well as possible to fit in context. There is never the ideal solution, it is always a compromise. The well balance of exploitation and proper maintenance of the building is the need and should therefore be thoroughly judged by the professional public. Ruins are a valuable source of authentic scientific information and have a specific emotional basis. In 2nd half of the 18th century in English came an interest (proto-Romanticism), which began to repair and maintain the ruins intentionally. In the period of purism (2nd half of the 19th century), there was a strong tendency to complete the ruins in to its "original" form. Heritage conservation represent complex problem. We must respect and protect the value of ruins as a full-fledged historical source capable of wide-ranging testimony. Therefore, there are no general rules and each case requires a distinct approach. However, there are general principles and recommendations that have emerged from practice 2 these principles include: • Classification of the object; • Architectural style of ruin; • Heritage values; • Social function of ruin; • Concept of repair works; • Conservation; • Reconstruction; • Implementation of building repairs; • Appropriate mode of use.
As we see, responsible preservation and maintenance of historical ruins requires, in addition to the usual methods of care for historical buildings and works of art, the application of completely specific procedures. Their uncommon nature is based on the fact that normally it is unusual to preserve a building in an incomplete state. In order to cope with weather and other environmental conditions, a building needs to have a completed system of finishing elements such as roofs and roofing, wall toppings, plasters or protective coatings. The application of these standard elements, however, often contradicts the prevailing conceptual requirement to "protect a ruin as a ruin", and therefore the conservation of partially preserved buildings entails a number of unusual technical problems. To address these unusual technical problems helps science, or the results of the individual disciplines of science.

Natural science -basic breakdown
Natural science can be described as the systemic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe 3 . The natural science is commonly divided to: • Physical science -branch of natural science that studies non-living systems -Astronomy; -Physics; -Chemistry; -Earth Science.
• Life science -branch of natural science that studies living systems -Biology; -Ecology.
The need to incorporate technicals and humanities in the field of cultural heritage research has led to the formation and emergence of a new scientific discipline in recent decades. One of the leading platforms for shaping and operating this scientific field in Europe is the emerging research distribution infrastructure E-RIHS ( For the natural sciences and subsequent engineering disciplines, innovations are essential for practical application (not only) in the field of torsal architecture.

Innovative restoration techniques, technologies and materials used in conservation
An overview of all tools available for investigation, preservation and presentation of historical ruins would be too extensive. So for practical output within RUINS project realized review of them must be necessarily selective. Priority has been given to those methods and procedures that are among the most used in the process of ruin protection and preservation. Preference was given also to the methods used at the workplaces of the members of the consortium, as well as to original results of the applied research achieved at these workplaces. For this reason, especially analytical and diagnostic methods are significantly represented in the Report of innovative restoration techniques, technologies and materials used in conservation.
The individual records were arranged in such a way that the descriptive characteristics of each method are presented first, then the extent of use or application and also the necessary degree of intervention. For a practical assessment a briefly summarizing of their advantages and disadvantages is namely important. Those interested in more information will appreciate keywords for internet searching, summary of the literature on the subject and links to important websites. In most cases, the examples of real applications are included which can further clarify the scope of use. The report includes these categories: The details and form of individual records are best demonstrated on a specific sample tool -Loading jack for compression strength measuring.

Loading jack for compression strength measuring
Kind Diagnostic

Basic description
A portable device to measure mechanical properties of wood using small size jack inserted in a pre-drilled hole and designed to determine the current mechanical properties: strength and modulus of deformability in compression parallel to the grain. In the test, the dependence of the force on deformation is measured while symmetrically arranged jaws are being pushed apart in a radial borehole with a 12 mm diameter 4 .

Specification
The device has been developed by ITAM AS CR for the specific needs of field surveys. During the measurement, the force is scanned and recorded. It is calibrated to the real force of the jaws pushing apart and simultaneously related to the measured distance of jaw displacement. The correlations between the compression strength parallel to the grain and the strength of standard specimens is determined in compliance with EN 408 range in the interval R2 = 0.7-0.9 based on the wood species. The relations were described by usable linear regression models 5 . The modulus of elasticity cannot be calculated directly from the diagram; the modulus of deformability was established using the angle of the curve fit through the linear part of the force record and deformation. Commonly, the measurement is performed at four different depths below the surface. The holes into the material to be tested are carefully drilled at selected places to enable further assessment of the timber condition, e.g. the timber quality based on the obtained core, sawdust, as well as video inspection.

Range of use
Developed for the purpose of on-site inspections. Designed only for soft wood species commonly used in timber constructions (roofs, ceilings, log walls), namely spruce, fir, pine and larch. Requires 150 × 150 mm free area for drill.

Intervention rate
Semi-destructive (less invasive)

Main advantages
Thanks to wireless connection with a laptop gives results immediately. The holes can be used for future measurements.

Negatives or risks
In the case of decorated ceiling beams, the holes must be sealed after the testing.

Affected part
Timber log rooms embedded in brick wall town house.

Intervention reasons
Detailed survey of log walls built in two different time periods (1490/91d, 1731/31d) as known from dendrochronological dating.

Intervention extent
Semi-destructive

Results
The medieval timber walls in room A can continue to perform their structural function. The deformed walls on the northern and eastern side of the room B (Baroque) would require such a heavy repair, coupled with the significant amount of replacement of the original material that a complete exchange would appear to be a more appropriate solution.

Evaluation
The on-site application of loading jack helped to determine actual bearing capacity of the preserved log walls. It has been acquired in a less-invasive way.

Source of images
Jaroslav Hrivnák, ITAM, 2016 The integrated natural sciences approaches to the protection of medieval ruins

Conclusion
Preservation and maintenance of ruins require a specific approach based on a systemic insight to the whole issue. This is an approach that is characteristic of the whole heritage science. Natural sciences are reflected in the protection of ruins mainly through technical innovations.
There is a wide range of supporting techniques, technologies and materials that can be used so it occurs beneficial to have an overview of suitable techniques and materials to apply with the specification of area of use (ruins in our case). The overview contained in the presented report is selective, so it is appropriate not to take it as a final list, but more as an initial corpus that can be supplemented and updated on the basis of new knowledge and experience as different techniques, technologies and materials evolve over time. The structure of records is ready to be transferred to a database so it could be converted into an updatable online list in the future. Such a maintained publicly available database can be a useful support tool for the area of preservation and maintenance of ruins.