The current works undertaken on the north Wall focus on the area B12 (34,000-42,000) – Β13 (0,000-4,000), namely the section to the north of the Erechtheion and above the array of unfluted columns of the Pre-Parthenon that had been embedded in the Themistoclean fortification of the Acropolis. The area in question, which is preserved to full height comprised of 15 courses, has been conserved and filled during the restoration interventions by N. Balanos in the early 20th c., making use of cement mortar and iron elements that have now been corroded. This area of the wall suffers from erosion, widening of the horizontal joints and cracking.
The restoration study prepared by A, Chatzipappa and D. Michalopoulou aims at the structural restoration of this section of the wall, and also at its structural adequacy and aesthetic enhancement by removing later additions, as well as all of the corroded iron elements and cement mortars.
Following the installation of a scaffolding in a particularly challenging area, a total of 28 ancient stone blocks and 37 smaller stone fragments that had been integrated during N. Balanos’ intervention were removed. Due to the exceptionally poor preservation state of the original material, the initial study was modified. The repositioning of the restored blocks is underway.
As regards the materials used for the interventions in the Walls, already since 2015 —a year that saw the implementation of the project on the south wall—, mortars were created and applied, the composition of which was based on analyses of historical mortars in the area. For the supplements but also the construction of new stone blocks, wherever necessary, stone from Pitsa in Corinthia was used. At the same time, research into the appropriate composition of the artificial stone that could be used in other parts of the Wall is in progress.