Structural Analysis and Evaluation of the Historic Haydarpasa Railway Station

Haydarpasa Railway Station, a well-known symbolic gateway to the metropolitan city Istanbul, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. It was designed by the architects Otto Ritter and Helmuth Conu and built by the German construction company Philipp Holzmann. The neo-classical structure is the first station of the Anatolian Railroad and an important piece of Turkish cultural heritage. Following the fire in 2010 that caused serious damages on the central and northern parts of the roof, restoration of the building was initiated. Detailed structural and architectural site investigations were performed in order to identify structural weaknesses such as material flaws, cracking, and inappropriate interventions. This study deals generally with the structural analysis and evaluation of the station based on numerical analyses. In order to examine the seismic performance of the structure, a finite element model of the existing structural system was created and analyzed using a finite element analysis software. Afterwards, repair and strengthening strategies were proposed to address the existing structural problems in the light of site observations and the finite element analysis results of the existing state of the structure.