The head of engineering projects Department at the al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine spoke to Al-Kafeel Network about this part of project saying: "covering the floor of the holy sanctuary of Aba al-Fadl al-Abbas (peace be upon him) is an important stage of the project of covering the whole holy shrine floor. First stage, was covering the floor of the section dedicated for women and after the completion of the works, we started the work on the section dedicated for men, and by the end of the works of this section, the entire stages of covering the whole floor of the holy sanctuary have been completed and the sanctuary is open to receive its visitors. After this, we started the works on the area surrounding it according to a plan that was developed to divide the area into sections so as not to intersect with visitors’ movements."
He added: "many efforts have been exerted to complete this stage, and the Engineering Maintenance Department has played a large and effective role in all aspects of this work, starting with removing the layers of old floor and ending with the project finishing works."
Indicating: "The new alabaster, which has been used to cover the sanctuary's floor, is of Mutli-Onyx type measuring (40 cm x 60 cm) and thickness (3 cm). It was subjected to several technical and engineering tests in terms of endurance and consistency of color and thickness in addition to other specifications making the beauty of these alabaster pieces. "
He added: "These alabaster pieces of bright colors were distributed in a very artistic manner, in harmony with the beauty and splendor of the holy sanctuary's grid of Aba al-Fadl al-Abbas (peace be upon him) and the walls. These works were preceded by deep cleaning the floor of the sanctuary to make it in one level, in addition to treating them with chemicals for the control of moisture, insects and some structural materials that facilitate and strengthen the adhesion of these alabaster pieces to the floor."
It is noteworthy that the process of cladding was preceded by the following preliminary work:
- Removing old alabaster.
- Removing the old concrete parts and repair the damaged ones.
- Treatment of the floor and its fractions using special materials.
- Pour concrete floor to be prepared for cladding with a concrete of special specifications and treated by building materials to help its adhesion to the old floor and to prevent moisture.
- Making an iron mesh and put it under concrete casting.
- The establishment of a ground network for water drainage, communications, fire and alarm systems, and linking them to the Holy Sanctuary, which in turn is linked to the main systems of the al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine."
It is to note that the shrine of Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon him) has witnessed the implementation of a number of projects that have been developed according to specific spatial and temporal plans that are suitable for each project and its specificities, such as the project of horizontal expansion and the expansion of the sanctuary by roofing the Holy Shrine, in addition to covering the Iwans and construction of the basements, as well as the installation of the sanctuary's grid and other supporting systems of cooling, fire, alarm, communication and monitoring and other projects that cannot be mentioned, and recently there is another project that is no less important than the rest, namely Project covering the floor of the holy shrine with alabaster, which was installed since the seventies of the last century.