Iraq preserves traditional plaster in reconstruction over modern materials

Record ID: 1846645

  • Title: Iraq preserves traditional plaster in reconstruction over modern materials
  • Date: 9th October 2024
  • Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (SEPTEMBER 28, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF IRAQI WORKERS MINING GYPSUM TRUCK TRANSPORTING EXTRACTED GYPSUM WHICH WILL BE CALCINED AT A FACTORY IN MOSUL VARIOUS OF WORKERS CRUSHING GYPSUM ROCKS INTO SMALLER PIECES BEFORE IT IS GRINDED INTO POWDER AND CALCINED WORKERS PILING UP CRUSHED GYPSUM ROCKS VARIOUS OF WORKERS CARRYING GYPSUM ROCKS TO GRINDING MACHINE THAT
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2024 12:00
  • Keywords: Construction Iraq Plaster Tradition
  • Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • City: MOSUL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001044609102024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In Iraq’s Mosul, generations-old traditions of plaster production remain deeply rooted, even as new building technologies emerge.
    The production process, which begins with the extraction of gypsum, a mineral abundant in the region, workers in one of Mosul's gypsum factories break, grind, and calcinate these rocks, resulting in high-quality plaster used on construction sites in the city’s old town, where heritage and cultural preservation remain top priorities.
    With the price of one tonne of gypsum reaching approximately 45 US dollars in Iraq, while one tonne of cement costing 75 US dollars, one gypsum factory owner, Thafer Bassel, said the cost of upgrading production facilities is not possible, given the low price of plaster.
    "If we develop (the work), the (production) cost will be high, and in return, the price of plaster is cheap," added Bassel.
    The city of Mosul, captured by Islamic State (IS) in 2014, has suffered extensive damage as hundreds of houses and public buildings including the airport, the main railway station and the university have been destroyed.
    Many homeowners and construction workers still prefer using plaster in renovation works.
    “Plaster and stone in construction are stronger insulators than concrete due to the thickness of the wall,” said Zein al-Jalili, who is renovating his damaged 350-year-old home.
    Seven years after the city was liberated, pockmarked buildings with collapsed floors can still be seen around Mosul. While the old city remains in ruins and despite political infighting, allegations of corruption and delayed reconstruction, life is slowly returning.
    (Production: Khaled al-Mousily, Maher Nazeh, Abir Al Ahmar)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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