Applus+ carries out the Quality Control of the masonry pieces used in the construction of the new Sagrada Familia towers
21/12/2016
Applus+ collaborates in the construction of the new Sagrada Familia towers
The project awarded to Applus+, consists in the Quality Control of the stone production of the six towers of the dome. Works are performed on dimensional control, finishing and texture of the hundred percent of the masonry pieces that will be part of the Sagrada Familia towers. There are 15.000 pieces composed of seven types of material that will be built under a special construction technique with panel system of large blocks of stone. Thanks to this project the main tower, called the “Jesus tower”, will be the largest building in Barcelona with 172 meters, followed by “María tower” (140 meters) and the “Evangelist towers” with 135 meters in length each.
This project will be developed in the next four years and Applus+ offices from different geographical regions will be involved in it. The Applus+ office in Rubí (Northeast of Spain) is responsible of lading and coordinating the project from the Laboratory and the Geotechnical Engineering departments. The Northwest region´s Laboratory department and the South region´s Building department will be involved in the project too.
The stone blocks, that come from more than twenty quarries from different parts of the world: Spain, England, France, Brazil and Iran, are sent to the Sagrada Familia Distribution Center, located in Borges Blanques (Lleida). In this Center, the stone blocks are cut and distributed to the different masonry workshops located in Macael (Almeria), Lugo, Borges Blanques (Lérida), Ulldecona (Tarragona) and Llinars del Valles (Barcelona). It is in these workshops where our technicians examine in detail each piece of stone to be validated. About ten technicians from Applus+ participate in this project. They have been trained by “La Sagrada Familia” as specialists in carrying out these inspections, taking into account the high demands required by the client and the project.
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The biggest complication of this work consists in fitting the structure stone over stone, because the absence of concrete and the geometrical characteristics of the pieces, force to carry out exhaustive quality controls and laboratory tests that start in the same quarry and end when the pieces arrive to the vicinity of “La Sagrada Familia”.
Thanks to this contract, Applus+ positions once more as an innovative company, leader in Inspection, Testing and Certification with an extensive experience of more than 30 years.