Asse (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Sint-Martinuskerk church in Asse, Belgium, has been closed due to weak columns found during repairs after a 2022 storm. Builders have been reinforcing them for 20 years. Edwin Fabri (CD&V) ensures safety.
The Sint-Martinuskerk church in Asse, Belgium is closed to the public. The church is being repaired, but builders found that the columns inside are weak. The builders were worried that the church might fall, so they closed it until they could make it safe. They don’t want anything bad to happen, like what happened to the Wilhelmina Tower in Dutch Limburg.
Builders mentioned that that tower fell because it wasn’t fixed when it needed to be. The church in Asse is important to the town because people go there to pray and because it’s a historical building. Now, people have to go to the church in Walfergem to pray. The church in Asse will stay closed until it’s safe.
How will repairs keep Sint-Martinuskerk Asse standing?
The church is being fixed so it won’t fall. The builders are putting wooden beams and strong cables around the cracked columns to hold them together. This will keep the church standing for about 20 years.
The builders will decide what to do next. They’re going to look at the other columns and the ground under the church to see if anything else needs to be fixed. They want to make sure the church is safe for a long time.
The Sint-Martinuskerk church in Asse, Belgium, was damaged by a storm in February 2022. The storm tore off the roof of the historic church tower. Construction work to fix the damage began in November 2024. While working on the church, builders found cracks in the columns inside the church.
These cracks were first noticed about 5 years ago. Since the builders were already working on the church, they decided to check how bad the damage was. They drilled into the columns to check how bad the damage was.
The church will not collapse tomorrow, but we do not want to take any risks.
Edwin Fabri, alderman Asse (CD&V)
According to the builders, cracks in concrete columns can happen for a few reasons. One reason is that the columns are carrying too much weight. Another reason is that the steel inside the concrete is rusting. This happens when water gets into the concrete. The rusting steel makes the concrete crack.
They mentioned that sometimes the ground under the building moves unevenly. This can also cause cracks in the columns. Sometimes the columns were not built correctly in the first place. All of these things can make the columns weak and dangerous.
Alderman Asse (CD&V) says,
The relatively weak natural stone of the pillars is slowly giving way due to the high presence of tensions. That process has probably been going on for years.
