The digitization of shared cultural built heritage highlighted in “Heritage at Risk in Algeria”.

Abstract

Abstract The present paper deals with the technic using the terrestrial laser scanning survey (TLS) in the restoration and conservation of the shared built cultural heritage in Algeria. The cross-section method, that was the skeleton of our surveys, is applied by using directly 3D meshing models. The project described in this article was motivated by the need to document some of key buildings, that looks very venerable, in the city of Setif in Algeria: The Mosque of El Attik minaret, the mausoleum of Scipion, and the statute of the fountain of Fouara. This statue which is made of marble was realized by Francis de St Vidal in 1899 that represents a nymph which is a part of the fountain, publicly displayed in the center of the city’s main plaza. On 18 December 2018, a man has deteriorated the statute. Following the day of the incident, our team has been called to use a previous scanner laser survey of the nymph that was stored in our cultural heritage monument database in order to help the restoration of the missing part of the nymph (the face and the breast). As a matter of fact, the original laser scanning survey provided a helpful and accurate details to support the restoration of the nymph. If the experience of Ain fouara show all the interest of this technology not only in the digital archiving of 3D models generated; the digitization of The Mosque of El Attik minaret and the mausoleum of Scipion highlights the effective use of 3D meshing models obtained, in the study of the mechanical behaviours. This preventive approach is useful in other studies of shared cultural built heritage.