Materials Challenges in Reconstruction of Historical Projects: A Case Study of the Old Riwaq Project

Nowadays, the focus on sustainable materials with high specifications has become a necessity in certain important construction projects. These materials play an essential role and constitute the foundation stone in the sustainability of these projects in addition to their impact on the execution time. Many studies have discussed the challenges faced by these materials and their negative impact on the execution period of construction projects. However, these studies are still scarce in the reconstruction projects, especially the historical ones, which are based mainly on the sustainability of the materials used, which are represented by the historical elements that maintain the ancient shape of the building. The aim of this research is to highlight the materials-related challenges of historical reconstruction projects which negatively affect the planned duration of implementation. This study was conducted on the Old Riwaq project, which is the historical part of the Mataf Expansion project in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is considered one of the most important reconstruction historical projects that have been recently carried out in the Middle East. In order to achieve this goal, 15 interviews were held with the engineers working in this project and specialists in these types of historical projects. The results show a group of different challenges that follow the reconstruction stages of the historical building. These challenges are: challenges related to the first stage which is the documentation and dismantling stage (two challenges), challenges related to the second stage which is the workshops stage (three challenges), and challenges related to the third stage which is the new designs and mockup stage (three challenges). Finally, the identification of sustainable materials challenges should be considered an urgent necessity, in order to overcome or reduce their negative effects in future projects, especially in relation to project durations.