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EvaluationofHealthConditionsofWoodenStructuresoftheFormerSlaveQuartersofFarmSantaMariadoMonjolinho,LocatedintheStateofSãoPaulo,Brazil

ARTICLE·SEPTEMBER2013

DOI:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.778.1096

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FranciscoAntonioRoccoLahr

UniversityofSãoPaulo

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Evaluation of health conditions of wooden structures of the former slave quarters of farm Santa Maria do Monjolinho, located in the state of

São Paulo, Brazil.

Aline Faria Campos1,a, Laurenn Borges de Macedo2, b, Maria Ângela Pereira de Castroe Silva Bortolucci3, c

and Francisco Antonio Rocco Lahr4, d 1Graduate student in University of São Paulo (USP), School of Engineering of São Carlos (EESC), Department of Structural Engineering (SET), Wood and Timber Structures Laboratory (LaMEM),

Trabalhador sãocarlense Av. 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

2Master’s student in University of São Paulo (USP), School of Engineering of São Carlos (EESC), Department of Structural Engineering (SET), Wood and Timber Structures Laboratory (LaMEM),

Trabalhador sãocarlense Av. 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

3Dr. Professor in University of São Paulo (USP), Institute of Architecture and Urbanism (IAU), Trabalhador sãocarlense Av. 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

4 PhD Professor on University of São Paulo (USP), School of Engineering of São Carlos (EESC), Department of Structural Engineering (SET), Wood and Timber Structures Laboratory (LaMEM),

Trabalhador sãocarlense Av. 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

aaline.campos@usp.br, blaurennmacedo@usp.br, cmariacsb@sc.usp.br, dfrocco@sc.usp.br Keywords: Farm Santa Maria do Monjolinho. Slave quarters. Cultural heritage. Wooden

structure. Nondestructive testing on Wood.

Abstract. Brazil still has a diversity of architectural structures that represent various historical

periods experienced. However, much of this cultural heritage is not properly maintained and this

work aims to contribute to the conservation of the wooden structure of a historic site in the state of

São Paulo. Problems related to the health/physical normality of wood present in historical building

structures are commonly found, therefore, assessment measures and maintenance should be

performed to secure the structural integrity of these parts, so that these architectural references are

not lost over time. The farm “Santa do Maria Monjolinho”, located in São Carlos, the central

region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, declared cultural heritage in 2007 by the department of state

assets - CONDEPHAAT - stands out for the richness of its architectural set which was built in the

nineteenth century, under the dominance of the coffee economy. Its facilities include the main

house, yard coffee, granary and machine room, aqueduct and water wheel, chapel, mill, barn, settler

houses and the building of the former slave quarters, fully preserved by the family Malta Campos.

The old slave quarters, the object of our study, was built in the mid nineteenth century: today is the

building that has the highest level of degradation. Originally consisted of two large environments,

called wards, one female and the other male, with the function of house the farm’s slaves. After

abolition, italian colonists adapted the building turning it into five houses with party walls of clay

and wattle-and-daub. The roof, which consists in a wood structure and clay tiles, is bulging and has

loads of broken tiles and the timber (rafters, beams and purlins) structurally compromised due to

moisture attack and wood decay agents. The roof structure is supported by brickwork pillars and

fresh mainstays, and some of them exhibit some level of degradation. To evaluate the health of

these mainstays were used wood samples from other similar structures in the same property, built at

the same era of the slave quarters. Tests of shear, compression parallel to the fibers and density that

were developed made possible to make an analogy to the strength and condition of the wooden

structures that support the roof of the slave quarters. The results as such tests show the reduction of

the mechanical resistance of the pieces evaluated, leading to the need to reassess the conditions of

service of the structures considered. Seeking an evaluation and diagnosis of health and structural

conditions of the roof of the slave quarters, we intend to perform nondestructive tests on some parts

of the wood of the structure itself. To do so, the following equipment could be used: Stress Wave

Advanced Materials Research Vol. 778 (2013) pp 1096-1101© (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerlanddoi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.778.1096

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Timer, Pylodin and Resistograph, offered by USP. Thus, using data obtained by the tests will be

possible to determine the percentage of deterioration of structural components and the indication of

restoration suitable for conservation of the structure, while cultural heritage of regional significance.

Introduction The central region of the state of São Paulo began to be populated in the last decade of the

eighteenth century and had its greatest development in the period of dominance of coffee crops.

During this period, the development of farms was increasing with the introduction of new

techniques and machinery and the arrival of the railway lines, the old houses have been replaced by

new palaces inspired by European buildings. Much of this rich buildings produced in this period, is

now being destroyed or uncharacterized, without any kind of registration or documentation,

resulting in the loss of cultural identity of the Sao Paulo region. Among these buildings, stands out

for the richness of its architectural ensemble built in the nineteenth century, the farm Santa Maria

do Monjolinho. It is a rare example, once everything from buildings to furniture and machinery

were all held entirely by the family Malta Campos. This set was listed by CONDEPHAAT as

Historical, Cultural and Educational Heritage in 2007. Most buildings need restoration, but what is

in the highest state of degradation is the former slave quarters. This study aimed to analyze the

diseases and develop a proposal for restoration of this building. This structure originally consisted

of two large rooms, called wards, male and female, with the function of house the farm’s slaves.

After the abolition of slavery, it was adapted by Italian colonists in five combined housing. Party

walls of clay and wattle-and-daub were built, and doors and windows that did not exist in the slave

quarters were installed. For this research were performed readings about: the theory of restoration,

the history of rural architecture of São Paulo region and technology and properties of building

materials, especially wood. As a result of this study we expect to contribute to the revitalization and

maintenance of cultural heritage, preferring to keep the original building systems, replacing parts

and pieces lost or unusable by others of the same species. In the words of Silvia Puccioni (2001)

"The value of architectural heritage is not only in its appearance but also in the integrity of all its

components as a single product of the specific construction technology of its time."

Materials and Methods

As it was not possible to withdraw samples of the actual structure of the slave quarters, in order

to preserve the safety of the structure, the tests were made with samples of similar woods belonging

to buildings constructed on the farm in the mid-nineteenth century, now dismantled. In the lab1,

with help of the responsible technicians were prepared the body-of-evidence and conducted

standardized tests: Parallel Compression, Simple Compression, Shear and Density.

From these studies it was possible to determine the strength class of timber and compare the

results with values obtained on new wood. Thus it was possible to conclude that the time was not as

bad in the loss of resistance of the woods when it presents no aggravating factor for its sanity, as

xylophages attack or moisture. As an example, one of the support structure (pillar) was

compromised because there was a termite nest on its top. The species used in the tests were

identified as: Peroba (Aspidosperma spruceanum) cabreúva (Myrocarpus frondosus), cedar

(Cedrela odorata), faveiro (Peltophorum dubium) and guarantã: (Esenbeckia leiocarpa) and a

species identification was not possible.

1 Laboratory of Wood and Timber Structure (acronym in portuguese: LaMEM) of the Engineering School of

São Carlos, University of São Paulo

Advanced Materials Research Vol. 778 1097

(a) (b) (c)

Fig.1 - Images of laboratory tests: (a)Shear; (b) Simple Compression; (c) Parallel Compression.

Seeking an evaluation and diagnosis of structural and health conditions of the pillars of the slave

quarters, was essential to conduct non-destructive trials on the structural lumber in the building. For

this could have been used the equipments: Stress Wave Timer, Pylodin and Resistograph that

determine the percentage of deterioration of the structural parts, and states if the structure is

compromised or not. Due to availability LaMEM, the equipment used in this research was the

Resistograph2.

The tests with the Resistograph were conducted in farm Santa Maria Monjolinho with the

assistance of graduate student Felipe Hideyoshi Icimoto and a LaMEM’s technician, Samuel Inácio

de Sá. We analyzed two beams of trunk plump and eight pillars3. Of this eight, seven were trunk

plump and only one was a carved wood (P5A). In each of the mainstays, two analyzes were made,

one on top and one at the bottom. The images below show the test.

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 2 - Photographs taken during the test: (a) Resistograph; (b) Drill through the pillar ;(c) Test

carried out on the beam.

2 The Resistograph, generally speaking, is a device that evaluates the internal conditions of a piece of wood.

The principle of use of such equipment is the introduction of a steel drill of 3 mm in diameter and 50 cm length at a

predetermined rate which varies according to the density of the wood species. The drill suffers different intensities of

resistance along the cross section of the piece. Besides the resistance, the equipment allows to analyze the length of the

cross section of the piece deteriorated. The resistograph records are saved instantly on paper and can be transmitted to

the computer through the software F-Tools. This variation in resistance results in increases and decreases in the

intensity of torque applied to the drill shank, and are matched to the power consumption of the drill representing the

value of puncture resistance. 3 Altogether there are nine pillars that make up the structure, but one of them was inaccessible making it

impossible to perform the test.

1098 Structural Health Assessment of Timber Structures

Fig. 3 - Disposition of structural parts tested.

Results and Discussions

In the Table 01 is shown the resistance profiles obtained on the drilling with the Resistograph in

structural parts analyzed and brief comments about the presented subject. The axes of abscissas on

the profiles represents the depths of drilling in centimeters, and the axis of ordinate represents the

percentage of amplitude of resistance of the wood.

Table 1. Analysis of the decay profiles

Pillar P1A:

The stretch highlighted in green

presents a fall of resistance due

to the presence of a crack, but

this does not affect

considerably slit in the pillar

resistance.

Pillar P2A:

The section marked in green

represents a crush resistance

due to the presence of a slot,

but this does not affect

considerably crack resistance of

the pillar.

Advanced Materials Research Vol. 778 1099

Pillar P4A:

To this abutment resistance

variability along the length of

the drilling is perfectly natural

conditions due to tree growth.

Displays high levels of

resistance in the whole profile.

V3A

Displays natural variability of

resistance in high level.

The analysis of records provided allows concluding that only three pillars require the need to

replace the entire piece. The other five pillars and beams analyzed exhibit the resistance level from

good to excellent. Some of these structural elements contain slits, but do not compromise

structurally the part and the pillars to be integrally replaced are: P2A, P4C and P5A.

Conclusions

It was possible from the tests performed to determine which structural parts could be kept in the

building's original form and which have a very high level of deterioration to the point of needing

replacement. The results obtained with this work are part of the restoration project that will be

offered to the owner of the farm, in order to contribute to the maintenance of this important cultural

heritage of the rural region of the state of São Paulo.

Acknowledgments

To the farm's owner, Dr. Décio Malta Campos, his wife Carmen Malta Campos, his son

Fernando Malta Campos and her daughter-in-law Vera Malta Campos for the excellent reception in

your home and a willingness to help whenever it was needed.

To the LaMEM’s technicians (mainly to Mr. Samuel Inácio de Sá), and to the graduate student

Felipe Icimoto Hideyoshi, for making available their time and expertise on the achievements of the

tests.

1100 Structural Health Assessment of Timber Structures

References

[1] BENINCASA, V. Old Farms: architecture and daily life in the camps Araraquara 1830-

1930. São Carlos: EdUFSCar; São Paulo: Official State Press, 2003.

[2] BRANDI, C. Theory of restoration. Arts & Crafts Collection. Editorial workshop, 2004.

262 p. ISBN 8574802255

[3] COSTA, E. V. From Slaves to Cologne. 2ª ed, Editora Ltda Humanities Bookstore., 1982.

[4] FERRO, F. Using Resistograph for analysis of decay in wood poles for electricity.

EBRAMEM, 23 a 25/07/2012, Vitória/ES

[5] LEAL, F. M. Restoration and conservation of monuments Brazilians. Recife:

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 1977.

[6] PUCCIONI, S. Recommendations for the Analysis, Conservation and Structural

Restoration of Architectural Heritage. Paris: International Scientific Committee for Analysis and

Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage – ISCARSAH.2001. 42 p. (Brazilian version of

the Final Document). Available: < http://www.arcoit.com.br/arquivos/rec_brasil.pdf>. Accessed in:

7 de abril de 2012.

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