2024 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – At Turaif District

At-Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah was the first capital of the Saudi Dynasty, in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, north-west of Riyadh. Founded in the 15th century, it bears witness to the Najdi architectural style, which is specific to the centre of the Arabian Peninsula. In the 18th and early 19th century, its political and religious role increased, and the citadel of at-Turaif became the center of the temporal power of the House of Saud and the spread of the Salafiyya reform inside the Muslim religion. The property includes the remains of many palaces and an urban ensemble built on the edge of the ad-Dir’iyah oasis.

Expin has been commissioned by ARS Progetti S.p.A. (the contractor awarded the agreement with the Diriyah Gate Development Authority for the ‘At Turaif Monitoring Study and Condition Assessment’ project) to carry out a diagnostic campaign on several buildings within the At-Turaif site in order to characterize the timber and masonry elements for conservation purposes. Adobe masonry walls were tested through flat jack tests in order to obtain their mechanical characterization, sonic pulse velocity tests, rebound hammer and penetrometric tests on mortar, infrared thermography, ground penetrating radar surveys and moisture content measurements. Timber elements were inspected by means of resistance drilling test, moisture detection and visual grading.