Sainte-Croix Collegiate Church, Liège

In Liège, the Collegiate Church of Sainte-Croix is being restored. The church was founded in the late 10th century by Bishop Notger. It combines a Romanesque westwork with a Gothic east choir, has been a listed monument since 1936 and forms part of Wallonia’s exceptional heritage. The client, the City of Liège, called on Toiture Henri Lefin for the beam-end repairs in the historic roof structure.

To repair decayed beam ends and timber joints, RC Polyhout-Epoxy was chosen, an epoxy casting mortar for structural timber repair (polymer-chemical beam-end restoration). The decayed timber is first removed back to sound wood. Glass-fibre rods are then anchored in place and the missing section is cast in formwork with RC Polyhout-Epoxy. Thanks to its shrink-free, slow cure, excellent adhesion to timber and very good flow, the casting mortar fills the formwork well. The beam ends regain their load-bearing function, while the sound original timber is retained. RC Polyhout-Epoxy thus forms the basis for the timber restoration of the roof structure of this collegiate church in Liège.