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Outline of the Conservation
Prasat Suor Prat is a group of tower structures built principally of laterite. Of the twelve towers, the N1 tower and the N2 tower antechamber, which were judged to be most in danger of collapse, were targeted for conservation and restoration by JSA. A preliminary restoration survey began in 1994 with an archaeological study of the terrace. A survey of the current state of each tower was also conducted simultaneously.
The actual conservation and restoration work was launched in May 2001, beginning with the partial dismantling of the N2 tower antechamber. Reconstruction of the building was completed in September 2003. Immediately thereafter, the conservation and restoration of the N1 tower began which involved full-fledged dismantling and reconstruction of the entire building, and was completed in April 2005. In the construction work on the N1 tower, as many as 2,000 laterite blocks and 700 sandstone blocks were dismantled. Of these blocks, 756 laterite blocks and 273 sandstone blocks were repaired and used to reconstruct the building. Furthermore, in the partial restoration of the North Pond, 199 embankment blocks were dismantled. Since only eleven of those blocks were reusable, 320 new laterite blocks, including those for missing elements, were used to reconstruct the embankment.
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