Fear of My Son B3 tower falling

Although My Son B3 tower has been supported by an iron frame since the beginning of 2019, the fear of this architectural work collapsing is still lurking if there is no solid conservation and restoration solution.

My Son Tower B3 is being supported by an iron frame. Photo: VINH LOC

The tower leans more than 3 degrees

Built in the late 10th century in the My Son A1 style, worshiping the god Ganesha, tower B3 (9.45m high) is a rare structure that remains relatively intact in the My Son Temple Complex (Thu Bon commune).

In the early 20th century, French experts from the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) cleared, measured, described, and researched the B3 tower, which was still quite intact at that time. However, during the war, the structure was severely affected, in which the southwest wall of the tower and the roof of the structure were damaged by bombs, traces of bomb craters are still visible 5m from the tower today.

Since the 1980s, when architect Kazik (Poland) came to study My Son, he discovered that tower B3 was slightly tilted, and the walls had many wide cracks.

Around 2000, the My Son heritage management unit coordinated with a number of related units to conduct a detailed survey of tower B3 and found many cracks on the tower body, with a single crack measuring 6m long, 18cm wide, and 1.2m deep. The entire tower body was tilted more than 3 degrees to the southwest (towards the stream).

Particularly on the east and west walls, cracks extend from the top to the base of the tower. In some places, the cracks split the building in two, and are at risk of widening. In some places, light can be seen shining through the wall. Some decorative and architectural components of the building are at risk of falling and collapsing.

In 2006, the My Son World Heritage Management Board coordinated with Japanese partners to conduct geological exploration drilling around towers B and C to find a solution to save tower B3. Japanese experts discovered that underground water from Khe The stream (west branch) caused water seepage, making the ground weak, affecting the foot of tower B3, especially during the rainy season.

In 2013, the My Son World Heritage Management Board coordinated with specialized units to conduct a survey and develop an urgent plan to support and preserve tower B3. In 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism allocated 1.5 billion VND from the national target program on culture to reinforce the foundation and support tower B3.

According to the design, the tower was held by an iron frame from the top to the ground to support the structure and keep the wall panels from falling while waiting for the overall conservation project to prevent tilting and subsidence.

After more than 6 years of urgent support for tower B3, some opinions said that this solution mainly creates temporary "peace of mind" because of the fragility of the iron scaffold compared to the enormous weight of the structure. Not to mention, the appearance of iron scaffold in the middle of the heritage space is not aesthetically pleasing to the B3 structure and towers B, C, D.

Urgent conservation of tower B3

In December 2024, the My Son World Heritage Management Board inspected the cracks and measured the tilt of tower B3 and found no major changes.

Cracks inside tower B3. Photo: VINH LOC

Mr. Nguyen Van Tho, Head of the Museum Conservation Department (My Son World Cultural Heritage Management Board) said that although the tilt is not too dangerous, we should not be subjective. In the long term, we need to have a comprehensive restoration plan for this architectural work.

“In fact, to prevent the B3 tower from tilting and sinking, the foundation must be treated, not the upper part of the structure. This only helps to limit the falling of bricks and stones. Therefore, a comprehensive solution is needed, applying modern and synchronous conservation methods such as balancing gravity, reinforcing and strengthening the foundation so that the tilting and sinking does not happen again. Preventing the B3 tower from tilting and sinking not only requires complex techniques but also a large amount of funding, estimated at tens of billions of VND,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Tho.

In fact, the B3 tower has been tilting and sinking for decades and continues to this day. However, to answer the question of whether the tower will continue to lean, observations and comparisons are not needed.

According to Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet, Deputy Director in charge of the My Son World Cultural Heritage Management Board, in the My Son conservation roadmap, the unit determined that the restoration of tower B3 is the top priority.

“It is expected that in early 2026, we will coordinate with the consulting unit to research and establish an investment estimate, and ask for permission from the competent authorities to renovate and prevent the B3 tower from leaning. Of course, this problem is not simple, because this is a large architectural block, related to the foundation treatment solution, so it will be very difficult in terms of engineering. Therefore, the restoration process will be very careful, the entire tower architecture must be preserved as a solid block before touching the foundation because the block connection of the B3 tower is relatively weak,” Mr. Nguyen Cong Khiet analyzed.

My Son relic site currently has about 71 relics and ruins dating from the 7th to the 13th century, most of which are not intact. Over the past 20 years, with many domestic and foreign sources of funding and technical support, many temple towers at My Son relic site have been preserved, firmly restored, and opened to visitors such as tower groups D, G, K, H, A... and now E, F.

However, the tilt and subsidence of tower B3, the structure that is considered a miniature of the masterpiece tower A1, is still a constant concern, posing many potential risks if there is no synchronous restoration solution to firmly preserve the tower as well as restore the beauty of this structure.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/noi-lo-thap-b3-my-son-nghieng-do-3305295.html