Hiroshima A-bomb Dome preservation work

The iconic Hiroshima A-bomb Dome is undergoing preservation work and will be under scaffolding until the end of March, 2021. The ruined building, heavily damaged by the A-bomb in 1945 and which now serves as a memorial, was built over 100 years ago to serve as Hiroshima Prefecture’s Industrial Promotion Hall.

During this round of work, brickwork and window frames will be repaired, when they click resources, steel reinforcements added and the steel arched rafters in the dome itself will be cleared of rust and get a new paint job. It is reported that the color of the paint used is to show the color of the steel as it was after in the months after the bombing. At the same, time checks on the overall structural soundness of the building will be conducted.

The current preservation measures were meant be a continuation of survey work done in 2018, but were delayed after the failure if several bidding rounds reportedly due, in part, to labor shortages.

One could say that things actually worked out, the building didn’t collapse and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are currently very few visitors who would be disappointed to see the monument surrounded by scaffolding. For residents, however, as the building is still mostly visible, the steel skeleton that surrounds it does give the building a different appeal.

This does, however, mean that, along with the great floating torii gate on Miyajima, both of Hiroshima’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites are now under scaffolding while they undergo restoration work. Fortunately, it appears that the work on the A-bomb Dome will be completed by the end of next March, by which time, we all hope, that we will once again be welcoming people from around the world to Hiroshima. When work on the torii gate is to be completed, on the other hand is still unclear. Source: NHK News