Irna Iranian experts are replacing the Swiss experts in the project to reinforce Tehran’s historical Shahrbani Palace to make it earthquake-resistant.
Arrangements were earlier made by the Foreign Ministry to enlist Swiss experts from Zurich University for the final stage of reinforcement.
According to Behruz Gharibpur, the executive manager of the project, the reinforcement plan for the palace was presented by Professor Meyer of Zurich University on August 18, and a group of Swiss experts was scheduled to implement the project.
“The project was postponed because Foreign Ministry officials, as the employer, changed their decision due to the Swiss group’s failure to provide a reliable guarantee,” added Gharibpur.
Therefore, Iranian experts began the final reinforcement process two weeks ago, having completed four stages of the preparation process which was begun last year.
“The first stage involved removing the unnecessary mud-brick walls, which were occupying much space in the structure, and the second stage involved reinforcing foundations of the building and reducing humidity in the structure, and the third stage involved identifying unstable areas which could collapse during an earthquake.
“The fourth stage, which consisted of rebuilding and renovation of some parts of the building, has also been completed,” Gharibpur said.
The final reinforcement process to make the structure resistant to an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on the open-ended Richter scale is scheduled to be completed by the end of June 2005, he added.
Shahrbani Palace is located off of Imam Khomeini St., near the Foreign Ministry building.