ABSTRACT

Archaeological buried structures have received less attention than aboveground historical structures, which seems evident given the visual impact of the latter. Archaeological structures present specific issues related to stability during excavation and after being exposed. This paper addresses a UNESCO world heritage site in Honduras (Copan), which has about 4 km of tunnels in a complex organization that were dug, in the last 100 years, for the purpose of investigation of buried structures under a temple complex. The objective of this work is to assess the safety of the tunnels, helping on the decision of back-filling the tunnels, adding new masonry linings and allowing access in current conditions (possibly with measures to avoid water infiltration). First, the long network of tunnels was categorized into different sections either in an earthen fill only or in presence of a masonry lining. Then, the stability of these sections was discussed as a function of the increase of soil saturation. It was found that unlined tunnels safety is likely to be compromised for a saturation higher than 70%, whereas lined tunnels do not fail when the soil becomes fully saturated, as far as drainage is ensured. Finally, this work allowed to issue recommendations on actions related to the site.

摘要

与地上历史建筑相比，考古地下建筑受到的关注较少，考虑到后者的视觉冲击力，这一点似乎很明显。考古结构存在与挖掘期间和暴露后的稳定性相关的具体问题。本文针对洪都拉斯 (Copan) 的联合国教科文组织世界遗产遗址，该遗址在一个复杂的组织中有大约 4 公里的隧道，这些隧道是在过去 100 年中挖掘的，目的是调查寺庙建筑群下的地下结构。这项工作的目的是评估隧道的安全性，帮助决定对隧道进行回填、增加新的砖石衬砌并允许在当前条件下进入（可能采取措施避免渗水）。第一的，长长的隧道网络被分为不同的部分，要么只填土，要么有砖石衬砌。然后，讨论了这些部分的稳定性作为土壤饱和度增加的函数。结果发现，饱和度高于 70% 时，无衬砌隧道的安全性可能会受到影响，而只要确保排水，衬砌隧道在土壤完全饱和时不会失效。最后，这项工作允许就与站点相关的操作发布建议。只要保证排水。最后，这项工作允许就与站点相关的操作发布建议。只要保证排水。最后，这项工作允许就与站点相关的操作发布建议。