Where Stone Meets Sky
Words: Dan KamysFast Fact: The Great Pyramid of Giza is over 5,000 years old and uses 2,300,000 blocks of stone, some weighing as much as nine tons.
Those in the industry are always proud to point out the fact that masonry has been in use since the building of the Egyptian pyramids. Now they have the chance of a lifetime to visit and discuss these forefathers of today's masonry buildings.
The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities is pleased to announce that the First International Conference on Restoration of Heritage Masonry Structures will be held in Cairo, April 24-27, 2006. The conference will be held in the Nile Hilton hotel in downtown Cairo, which has rooms overlooking the River Nile and within close walking distance to the Egyptian Museum.
The theme of the conference is evaluation, assessment and restoration/retrofit of historic, ancient and heritage masonry structures. Topics on seismic hazard mitigation of such structures may also be discussed.
The tentative schedule includes a welcome reception, opening and technical sessions, a dinner cruise on the Nile, and guided technical tours of the great pyramids and the Sphinx. An optional, post-conference trip to sites in upper Egypt - Abo Simble, Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfo and Luxur - is also available.
Organizations sponsoring this conference include Egypt's Department of Structural Engineering, Ain Shams University, the city of Cairo, The Masonry Society and the Masonry Research Laboratory, Drexel University.
Additional information on the conference is posted at www.hmc-cairo2006.com. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the conference chairman, Dr. Ahmad Hamid, at hamidaa@drexel.edu.