Investigation on the behaviour of a restoration plaster applied on heavy salt loaded masonry

The present paper reports the results of a series of investigations and monitoring performed, during a period of more than three years, on an ancient church flooded by the sea 50 years ago. This building can be considered representative for many other brick-masonry monuments in the flooded areas in the Netherlands. The church, restored several times in the past 50 years, shows a serious decay mainly affecting the restoration plaster applied in the interior; the damage appeared few years after the application of the plaster and has considerably increased in time.The research described in the present paper aims to reach better understanding of the mechanisms through which damage occurs in order to find out the reasons of the unsuccessful repairs performed in the past and to propose possible solutions to stop or slow down the decay process.