Rehabilitation and Repair of AL- Tahera Church in AL- Hamdaniya District, Mosul City, Iraq

The heritage ancient buildings are part of the Iraqis history and their preservation is important for the survival of this history. Many places of worship in Iraq are vandalized and burned during the ISIS period occupation of Iraq (2014–2016). Al-Tahira Church in Al-Hamdaniya / Mosul is one of the burnsed churches. The burning leads to reducing the bearing resistance of the supporting columns and arches made of local marble due to the formation of fractures and the appearance of cracks in these columns. In situ and laboratory examinations were performed to determine the mechanism of qualifying these columns and arches. Injections were made with low-viscosity epoxy materials to fill the cracks. The columns are laminated using a framing system consisting of sheet metal and cement-based mortar, take into account a strengthening of the arches during the maintenance period to prevent them from collapsing. The arches are lined with the same original materials, taking care to avoid any additional loads on them. The method strengthening of columns proved its success as the cross-sections of these columns were transformed from a monolithic (made from local marble) to a composite (steel covered by the local marble). A visual inspection was adopted to give the acceptance document for rehabilitation and maintenance work for the columns and arches for 18 months. As a result of no engineering or construction defects are noticed during this period, permission is given to continuing the rehabilitation work for the rest of the work items. •The heritage ancient buildings are part of the Iraqis history and its preservation are important for the survival of this history.•In-place and laboratory investigations were carried out to determine the mechanism to be followed to qualify the columns and arches.•The main columns and arches of the Al- Tahera church in Qaraqosh/ Mosul city are made from natural local marble which calcite represent its main composition. Calcareous rocks are light in color, interact with expanded acids and release CO2, and by heating at 900‐1000 °C (degrees Celsius) they also release carbon dioxide and convert into living Chalk Cao, They are rocks of low hardness with a low strength.•Injection were made with low- viscosity epoxy materials to fill the cracks with lamination of columns with resistant cement materials and the use of metal sheets to encapsulate those columns taken into account the bracing of arches during maintenance to prevent the collapsing o