Lime Mortar Composition of Old Fort in Melaka: A Case Study of Bastion Maurits and Bastion Santiago

Abstract

Historical masonry buildings in the state of Melaka are among the top attractions for tourist. It has attracted peoples from all over the world to come and visit Melaka to appreciate the beauty and value the architectural aspects of the masonry building. Based on this situation, there is a need to properly restore the buildings in order to make it sustain for a longer period of time. Works has been done from to time to restore and preserve the building. However, the works of restoration was not properly done due to the lack of information on the composition of lime mortar used in the development of masonry building. This study aims to identify the accurate composition of lime mortar in order to suggest the best solution in restoring masonry building in the future. Bastion Maurits and Bastion Santiago was chose as the sample of this study. Acid dissolution and sand grading method used in this study to identify the composition of lime mortar from each area chose. The result shows that the ratio of sand to lime in both Bastion Maurits and Bastion Santiago forts are the same. The analysis shows that the ratio is 1:3. Based on the previous studies, it is proved that the mortar with the ratio of 1:3 has better strength compared to the mortar with the higher ratio of lime to sand. In addition to that, the result from sand grading analysis shows that, lime mortar from both forts consists of the same content of material, which are lime, coarse sand, brick dust and egg broken pieces. This study has best identified the content of lime mortar from each of the forts mentioned. The material used in the development of the forts should be taken into consideration for restoration works of historical masonry building. Apart from that, a study on other forts should be done, as it may come out with different kinds of lime mortar content.