Restoration of a Portuguese palace – Hotel Cais de Santarém in Lisbon

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In this construction project, the former palace of the Marquis of Fronteira and the Count of Linhares is being restored. The palace was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1755 and was temporarily used as a storage facility for iron in the 19th century.

Hotel and museum in one building

Due to the fact that important archaeological findings from the Roman times and other periods have been discovered on the jobsite, the hotel will also be a museum.

The General Contractor, Constructora SANJOSE, was awarded the contract for demolition work, digging the excavations and building the necessary containment structures. Due to the palace's advanced state of decomposition, the General Contractor had to be very careful and precise. Combining the technical demands of a five-star hotel with the preservation of an important cultural heritage site was another major challenge.

Bore holes with total length of 9.5 km

First, all elements that were either contemporary or of low archaeological value were demolished. Afterwards, a foundation consisting of micropiles was built for which bore holes with a total length of 9.5 km were necessary. Subsequently, reinforced concrete blocks were positioned on the base level of the existing walls on top of the steel piles.

The General Contractor asked DSI Construction Portugal to supply bar tendons and couplers that were needed for tightening the concrete blocks and holding them in place. In total, DSI supplied 192 bar tendons, each 12 m long. Furthermore, 384 couplers were used for a force-fit connection of the post-tensioning bars. This allowed further excavation and terrain containment in order to reach the necessary excavation pit depth of 12 m.