'Genie' Nguyen Van Cu saves the tilted church in Hue

After successfully relocating the 70-year-old main hall of Dieu De Pagoda ( Hue City, Thua Thien - Hue), recently "genie" Nguyen Van Cu has returned to his homeland, successfully "saving" a massive church, weighing nearly 1,500 tons.

The tilted and sunken church was revived by "genie" Nguyen Van Cu.

This church is located in Duong No Con village, Phu Duong commune, Hue city (Thua Thien - Hue), built in 2009, the owner is Mr. Duong Van Sinh (73 years old, Hue city).

However, after only a few years of use, the church has tilted and sunk heavily at both the front and back ends. In early February 2023, Mr. Sinh contacted "genie" Nguyen Van Cu to help balance and firmly reinforce the foundation of his beloved church.

Mr. Nguyen Van Cu was present at the construction site, directing the workers.

Sharing with Thanh Nien reporter, Mr. Sinh said: "With the ancient Hue church architecture, the position that I am most passionate about is the "unique" layered roof that I came up with the idea and designed myself. However, during the construction process, the construction team did not properly construct the foundation structure, so over many years it has tilted and sunk."

Panoramic view of the church

Upon receiving the request, "genie" Nguyen Van Cu and his technical team went directly to Hue to survey. Mr. Cu concluded that this church had been tilted and sunk heavily in two directions, leaning 20 cm in the front and 9 cm in the back. If not handled promptly, it would seriously affect the structure.

Completed "giant" project ahead of schedule

On March 15, "genie" Nguyen Van Cu and a team of 20 technicians and workers set out to "rescue" this tilted and sunken church.

"I was quite surprised because the church was so big. However, with a very heavy structure but the foundation was simple, the ground sank severely. First, I had the foundation treated. This was also a rare time that I brought so much equipment and machinery this far to drive concrete piles and reinforce the foundation for a church," said Mr. Cu.

Many hydraulic jacks were brought to the construction site.

Workers use hydraulic jacks to lift the church.

The foundation of the church is reinforced with iron and lifted by many sturdy hydraulic jacks.

For this project, the "genie" had to drive nearly 30 piles, each pile measuring 15 m. To be more secure and ensure the sustainability of the "huge" mass of the church, Mr. Cu had to dig more than 2.8 m for the foundation to plant pillars and reinforce. This is also the most "difficult" part.

As of today, May 22, the foundation of the church has been completed. The "Genie" is having workers use hydraulic jacks to lift the tilted part back to its original position. After that, he re-welded the reinforced concrete so that the structure would be stable for a long time, forever.

"Genie" uses large iron bars to secure the church

Interior architecture of the church

The process of raising the house was carefully recorded by the technician.

Up to now, the jacking work has been basically completed, workers are welding the joints.

"Genie" Nguyen Van Cu added: "For this project, I brought all the workers from Ho Chi Minh City here. Currently, there are 15 workers and many specialized machines to handle the tilt and subsidence, and reinforce the church. Despite the very hot weather, the team of workers is still very enthusiastic and working at full capacity. Up to today, we have completed more than 90%, earlier than expected; after lifting to the original position, we just need to weld and connect the columns to the foundation and it's done."

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/than-den-nguyen-van-cu-cuu-nha-tho-nghieng-lun-tai-hue-185230522124612651.htm