SyMBoL project: Acoustic Emission studies of Norway’s stave churches

On November 5, Dr. Marcin Strojecki visited Norway for 2 days and installed acoustic emission apparatuses in two facilities selected for monitoring as a part of the SyMBoL project. The purpose of this venture is to track climate change in Norway’s priceless stave churches and to assess the associated risk of degradation of wooden decorative and structural elements. Norway has about 150 such buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which have not utilized climate control systems. As a result, these buildings have been exposed to huge variability in temperature and humidity and their continued conservation requires the development of preventive conservation strategies. Dr. Strojecki has extensive knowledge and experience with non-destructive, non-invasive monitoring using acoustic emission. This technique will allow researchers to observe the formation and expansion of cracks in the wood through seasonal changes. Marcin and the project team installed apparatuses in the churches of Heddal and Ringebu and were even visited by the press as work was underway (check it out below, the project appears at 2:37)!

https://tv.nrk.no/serie/distriktsnyheter-oestafjells/201911/DKTE98110719/avspiller

The SyMBoL project is a collaborative effort with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research and the Getty Conservation Institute.

If you want to know more about SyMBoL project, please visit their website:

https://www.ntnu.edu/symbol/

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