Characteristics of structure of the church in Gorica near Livno.
Glibic, Mladen ; Colak, Ivo ; Akmadzic, Vlaho 等
1. INTRODUCTION
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Franciscans of Livno received
the building approval from Turkish authorities. Construction of the
church was begun in 1854, mostly thanks to Fra Lovro Karaula, and it was
begun according to design of the Split architect, Franjo Moyses. After
five years of construction works, the church was roofed, but it was
built without ceilings. The southern bell-tower was constructed as late
as 1888, and the church consecration took place in 1891. Dissatisfied
with its appearance, the Franciscans requested a new church
reconstruction project from architect Josip Vancas in 1903. Thus,
following this request of Livno Franciscans, Vancas succeeded in
preparing the project in a short time, and it is exceptionally important
and valuable to us that the project was saved in its entirety unlike
many projects from that time, which were destroyed, lost or disappeared
without a trace.
The church in Gorica near Livno was reconstructed according to
Vancas' project. Now the Franciscans and people were satisfied
because they received what they requested from the renowned and
recognized architect. The beauty of Gorica began to entirely glisten in
its final harmony and form. The church opening ceremony was organized on
28 October 1906.
2. CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHURCH
The present appearance of the church in Gorica is not significantly
different from the original Vancas' design. The church has three
naves with dominant central nave. Side naves are 4.26 m in width and the
central nave is 13.48 m in width. Naves are only 24 m in length and they
are divided into three equal parts. Above these parts of naves are
cruciform barrel-shaped vaults with circular windows on places of
penetration of side vaults through longitudinal vaults. Levels of tops
of main vaults are 15 meters above the church floor. Central arches of
vaults are supported by four massive stone columns. A semicircular
elevated altar is located in front of the central nave. Above the altar
is a semi-dome-shaped stone vault. The vestibule is situated on the
opposite side of the altar in the width of central nave. Choir loft is
located above the vestibule. Bell-towers, 45 m in height, are built in
the width of side naves.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
The church in Gorica is covered by a gable roof. The roof structure
was made of wood and supported by a reinforced-concrete slab above the
vault of the main nave. The church entrance facade is covered with
well-dressed gray stone, while on other facades, stone blocks are much
more roughly dressed.
The method of construction of reinforced arches of vaults on all
three naves can be seen on the drawing in the original project. In fact,
iron trusses in semicircular form are cemented in regular concrete as in
Figure 6. Truss bars are made of cast L profiles interconnected by
rivets. From the original bill of costs, it is evident that the concrete
was prepared with Portland cement. Trusses are spatial and
rectangular in cross-section. Also, the bill of costs reads that the
barrel-shaped vaults are made of reinforced concrete, but the project
does not contain drawings of reinforcement of the vaults. In the bill of
costs, it is written that arches, which Vancas called poprugas, were
produced in Vienna according to the "Nonier" system. The cost
of transport of poprugas from Vienna to Livno was 960 kronen.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
In the bill of costs, all works are described in detail and the
complete usage of material required for the church reconstruction is
presented. Thus, it can be seen that the value of built-in concrete was
19,397.70 kronen. Turning the pages of the detailed bill of costs
further, it is possible to find a wide range of interesting data. The
total value of works was 45,000 kronen. Interior appearance of the
church requires a special article and more detailed analysis of
individual parts of the interior. It should be treated from both
historical-artistic and architectural aspect.
3. DAMAGES AND CAUSES OF CRACKS
Cracks were observed on the church several decades ago. On tops of
all reinforced-concrete main arches, several millimeters wide cracks can
be seen. Their shape and distribution indicate that the cracks resulted
from the tension caused by bending moment. Wide cracks that are visible
around windows on the place of contact between the ceiling slab and
outer wall are caused by concrete shrinkage. Dominant radial cracks are
visible on the stone vault of the dome above the altar near the resting
on the peripheral stone wall. A large tangential crack is observed in
the crown of that arch. There are also noticeable cracks in the crown of
the stone arch that is part of the gable wall. Long vertical cracks can
be seen on the interior of most walls. These cracks are largest in areas
of weakening of walls. No visible cracks can be observed when viewing
the exterior of walls.
Results obtained from the computer 3D model of the church show that
the state of stresses in main concrete arches, vault structure above the
altar and in gable stone arch is such that cracks had to result under
the load of own weight. Values of principal tensile stresses are greater
than stone vaults can support without occurrence of cracks. The
reinforced-concrete ceiling slab can bear values of calculation tensile
stresses, consequently there are no larger cracks on the vault above
church naves. The main reinforced-concrete arches have small compressive forces in crowns, while values of bending moments are significant. The
tensile part of concrete in arches is cracked, but the built-in steel
truss-like structure assumes tensile forces with sufficient safety.
Cracks on the interior of church walls are significantly larger and more
frequent than what could be expected from stress state analysis obtained
by calculation.
Also, absence of cracks on the exterior of these walls leads to
conclusion that the cause of the cracks in walls is not stresses from
vertical load to the structure; however, this topic deserves special
attention and a more comprehensive analysis.
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
4. CONCLUSION
Every author is pleased to publish an article on a significant or
less significant building, structure, detail, and especially if he can
give his own contribution, comment or opinion in that article,
regardless of whether it is a scientific or expert paper. It is hard to
describe but what pleasure it is when a standard expert work turns into
a first-class discovery that was not even thought of. That is the kind
of sense that was experienced at the moment of comprehension about the
scale of value of the project and bill of costs for the described church
in Gorica near Livno. In the time when application of reinforced
concrete was becoming a pioneering construction undertaking, usage of
the mentioned material is found to have been planned in the construction
of a Franciscan church of Livno.
The examined material of project and bill of costs also speaks
about the vision and progressiveness of the designer of that time, about
the foresight of Josip Vancas, who in his projects kept pace with
architectural world of that time. The value of Vancas' work
increasingly becomes higher, and the more we study it, not only from the
historical or architectural but also from the structural point of view,
the higher it is likely to continue to grow. What arouses curiosity and
suppressed hope, in everyone dealing with expert but also research
projects, is that new discoveries like this will possibly be made in
some unexplored projects, some projects not examined to the end, some
papers hidden from the expert eye. Chance and unpredictability of what
the project of the church in Gorica near Livno was hiding leads to a
conclusion on the necessity of systematical exploration of similar
documents.
5. REFERENCES
Glibic, M. & Colak, I. (2006). The Structural System of the
Church of Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary in Siroki Brijeg,
Proceedings of Scientific Expert Conference One Hundred Years of the New
Church in Siroki Brijeg, Colak, I. (Ed.) pp. 455-470, ISBN 9958-9170-4-1, Siroki Brijeg, June 2005, Franciscan Monastery, Siroki
Brijeg, B&H
Glibic, M. & Colak, I. (2007). The Church in Gorica near Livno,
AGD profi, Vol. 4, No. 24, May 2007, pp. 82-89, ID num. 4201006300006,
Sarajevo, B&H
Krzovic, I. (2004). Arhitektura secesije u Bosni i Hercegovini,
Sarajevo publishing, Sarajevo, B&H
Karamatic, M. & Nikic, A. (1990). Blago franjevackih samostana
Bosne i Hercegovine, Privredni vjesnik, Zagreb, Croatia
Vancas, J. (1903). Project and bill of costs for reconstruction of
the monastic church in Gorica near Livno, Sarajevo, B&H
