The Use of Ground-Penetrating Radar in the Documentation and

Evaluation of Iglesia San Jos, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Agamemnon Gus Pantel

Change Over Time, Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2012, pp. 6-18 (Article)

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press

DOI: 10.1353/cot.2012.0006

For additional information about this article

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cot/summary/v002/2.1.pantel.html

Access Provided by UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, LONDON at 02/10/13 8:12PM GMT

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR IN THE

DOCUMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF IGLESIA SAN
JOSE , SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
AGAMEMNON GUS PANTEL, PH.D.
Pantel, Del Cueto & Associates

Figure 1. Front facade of Iglesia San Jose as seen from the west. (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:10:12

PS

PAGE 6

The sixteenth-century church, Iglesia San Jose, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was placed on the World Monuments
Watch List in 2004. Originally known as the Iglesia de Santo Tomas de Aquino, it is considered by many scholars
to be one of the finest and oldest examples of Gothic-influenced religious architecture built by the Spanish in
the New World. Water infiltration and structural issues were at the core of the closing of the structure in 2002
after which emergency conservation measures were developed together with a long-term restoration plan. Both
the development of the restoration plan and the conservation measures were enhanced by the use of groundpenetrating radar with both midrange and high-frequency antennas. Subsurface water infiltration and subsequent
voids were effectively mapped to help determine patterns of rainwater travel through the stone and rubble
masonry walls. Ground-penetrating radar results also provided evidence of multiple construction phases and
modifications and corroborated or enhanced architectural evidence used to understand the construction
sequences.

As an integral part of the long-term assessment of Iglesia San Jose, several surveys
using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) were conducted inside and outside the church to
help determine conditions, the existence of physical evidence of building campaigns, and
modications to the church through time. Ground-penetrating radar is a reection technique that works by transmitting low-powered microwave energy into a substance like the
ground. The use of GPR in this project was instrumental in changing the way historic
structures have been commonly studied in the Caribbean, where historic fabric investigations by architects and engineers usually involve destructive testing. The use of GPR in
Iglesia San Jose allowed the compilation of subsurface features and conditions of the historic building fabric, not only in a nondestructive manner, but equally important, allowed
the examination of larger areas than otherwise possible with harmful and irreversible
techniques. GPR was selected as a way to image evidence of moisture and its distribution
and to identify the buildings original foundations, crypts, and construction elements in
selected portions of the church. Both the development of the restoration plan and the
conservation measures were enhanced by the use of ground-penetrating radar with both
midrange and high-frequency antennas.1 Four antennas were used for the GPR surveys in
Iglesia San Jose: 400 MHz, 900 MHz, 1000 MHz, and 1500 MHz.

Background
The early-sixteenth-century church, Iglesia San Jose (San Jose Church), in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, is the second (and possibly) oldest extant European structure in the Western Hemi-

PANTEL

................. 18237$

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:10:13

PS

PAGE 7

sphere. The church was originally known as the Iglesia de Santo Tomas de Aquino, and it is
considered by many scholars to be one of the rst and nest examples of Gothic-inuenced
religious architecture built by the Spanish in the New World. Water inltration and structural issues were at the core of the buildings closing in 2002, after which emergency
conservation measures were developed together with a long-term restoration plan. In
2004 it was placed on the World Monuments Funds World Monuments Watch List.
Iglesia San Jose was constructed from 1532 to 1735 by the Dominican Order as the
church to their adjacent monastery in Old San Juan. Throughout its 478 years, the climatic
ravages of a subtropical setting and the lack of timely preventive maintenance have contributed to the cumulative toll on the building. Its closure to the public, approximately ten
years ago, resulted from a safety concern by the Archdiocese of San Juan. The closing of
the church served to accelerate general deterioration due in a large part to water inltration from unchecked rainwater drainage, trapped humidity, and the encroachment of large
vegetation on its roofs.
In 2002 Pantel, del Cueto & Associates was contacted by the Archdiocese to assess
and develop measures for the building to allow it to return to its functioning state as
a parochial church and an active historic landmark. Given this charge, the church was
systematically surveyed from 2003 to 2006 to determine the actual condition of its fabric,
utilizing different evaluation strategies. This included systematic visual inspection of surface conditions, historic documentary comparisons, laser surveys, thermal scans, groundpenetrating radar, and materials sampling and analysis. The conservation issues of Iglesia
San Jose presented unique problems, resulting from a complex set of construction episodes
that utilized Old World templates but modied them to local materials, workmanship, and
climatic conditions.
Lacking any clear historical records of the various changes to the church, let alone
any writings or drawings of the original construction, the condition assessment of
Iglesia San Jose included the use of historic urban graphics that prominently showed
the church to determine changes in plan as well as a structural analysis that utilized
nondestructive testing and traditional documentation techniques. The assessment
resulted in the establishment of a set of hypothetical building phases from the sixteenth
through the eighteenth centuries, based initially on cartographic data and later on construction methodologies.
Some of the rst steps taken in the intervention into this historic landmark were
emergency measures to reopen the natural ventilation of the church, abate the entrance
of pigeons, rechannel rainwater drainage from the roofs, and most signicantly, provide
shoring for the churchs sections of Gothic vaulting. Consolidation of plasters containing
signicant early murals was also performed.
The bulk of the Iglesia San Jose GPR surveys was conducted using a Geophysical
Survey Systems (GSSI) GPR unit consisting of a digital console, a cable, and an antenna.
Four antennas were alternatively used: a 400-MHz antenna, which allowed data collection
to approximately three meters deep, and higher frequency 900-MHz, 1000-MHz, and
1500-MHz antennas to determine shallower subsurface architectural and/or constructive

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:10:14

PS

PAGE 8

Figure 2. Graphic illustration of the hypothetical building phases of Iglesia San Jose based on cartography
and structural investigations. (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

sequence elements located less than a meter in depth within walls and oors.2 The data
were initially examined as raw radargrams and selective survey data sets were postprocessed using GPR-SLICE software.
Four distinct survey issues will be illustrated. The rst is a general survey carried out
to determine the viability of ground-penetrating radar for Iglesia San Jose and a general
overview of the subsurface conditions of its interior. A second example examines the use
of GPR with a high-frequency antenna to assess the construction sequence of the expansion of a lateral chapel along the southern face of the church. A third example demonstrates the application of GPR to determine the locations and extent of subsurface
foundations for the structural engineers of the project. The fourth example illustrates the
application of GPR as both a documentation and administrative tool in providing information for the reopening of one of the principal connections between the original sixteenthcentury convent and San Jose as its conventual church. A nal example shows how the
software and interpretation of GPR data can make a signicant difference in the proper
assessment and documentation of a historic structure.

The First GPR SurveyExploratory Sounding

Prior to the installation of the structural shoring of the churchs Gothic section, an initial
ground-penetrating radar survey was done in January 2004 of the entire central nave to
determine the viability of using ground-penetrating radar at the site, and to provide an
initial evaluation of the subsurface condition of the church oors as well as the potential
for crypts or structural remains.

PANTEL

................. 18237$

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:11:00

PS

PAGE 9

Figure 3. GPR-Slice detail indicating the extent of subsurface moisture (medium gray, concentrated at
right) along the southern sections of Iglesia San Jose. (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

Several very important anomalies were seen in the GPR data, with the most obvious
being subsurface moisture distribution as well as three crypts or tombs. Radar anomalies
surrounding the easternmost set of columns along the north aisle indicated earlier footings of the interface between the early Gothic construction and the subsequent additions.
The GPR-SLICE data indicated a faintly visible wall, partition, or even previous structures within the central portion of the nave to the immediate north of the main western
entrance. Radar readings also showed rectilinear lines within the oor of the central nave,
which suggested possible underground utilities, most likely abandoned. At the eastern end
of the church where the raised altar platform begins, there were indications of foundations
associated with the principal Gothic columns of the altar and that of the main vault area.
What the results of this initial survey clearly showed in red (herein indicated as light
gray in the black and white image) were areas of subsurface water inltration, which is

10

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:11:33

PS

PAGE 10

identied by its horizontal distribution across the oors of the church as well as by the
degree of depth of water penetration. This information was signicant for the architect of
the project in that these maps provided insights into the intensity of water inltration
through the rubble masonry walls, the exact location of penetration, and, given the knowledge of the subsurface soils, the potential for oor collapses in specic parts of the church.
Additional information provided by the rst GPR survey indicated deep remnants of
potential scaffolding post molds under the barrel-arched central nave of the church. These
scaffolds would have most likely been used in the central naves conversion from a pitched
gable roof to the present barrel-vaulted nave. The apparent depths of these elements are
also signicant in determining the integrity of possible early Christian burials, which
would have been located in what was previously the western campo santo of the conventual
church.

The Second GPR SurveyCapilla de Belen Chapel Walls

Having determined that using ground-penetrating radar data within the church was
potentially productive, a second GPR survey was conducted in June 2006 to search for
evidence of multiple construction phases or modications and to corroborate or enhance
architectural evidence used to understand the construction sequences. Specically, it was
not known whether the modication of the Capilla de Belen (Belen chapel) to the south of
the Gothic section was completed as an extension of a previous construction or a completely new construction.
The west-facing wall of the Capilla de Belen was surveyed using a 1000-MHz antenna
systematically pulled along transects 25 centimeters apart, and the data were postprocessed in GPR-SLICE to create an animated map of anomalies3 that may be associated
with construction events. Based on the radargram data, there was no evidence of multiple
construction episodes for this wall, even though the previous architectural analysis indicated an expansion of the chapel in this direction. Hence, based on the GPR data, a possible
scenario for the lack of sequential construction expansions for this wall may have been a
consequence of the complete removal of a previous wall and the subsequent construction
of a new wall for the expansion.

The Third GPR SurveyStructural Foundations

In February 2007 a third GPR survey was carried out both inside and outside the church
along the principal walls to determine the locations and nature of structural foundations
so as to assist the structural engineers4 in their development of dynamic models.
Single proles were done with a 400-MHz antenna immediately along the inside and
outside walls of the church. Using the raw radargrams, areas indicating evidence of subsurface anomalies were identied as potential loci for building foundations. Based on these
readings, a set of test excavations were proposed for ground-truthing of the data. The use
of point-specic excavations was important, not just from a cost/time factor, but more
importantly, it allowed the Archdioceses request for the government permit for archaeo-

PANTEL

................. 18237$

11

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:11:34

PS

PAGE 11

Figure 4. GPR-Slice data set showing subsurface anomalies indicative of early walls in the central nave
area (top) and anomalies which appear to be traces of scaffolding footings installed during the
construction of the central nave barrel vault (bottom). (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

logical testing to be signicantly expedited. This was a critical factor given the known
potential for encountering early Christian burials within and around the church itself.
The results of the GPR survey and the test results were provided to the structural
engineers and project architect and facilitated the development of the restoration plans
for both the Gothic areas as well as the remainder of the church.

The Fourth GPR SurveyConvento de los Dominicos Bounding Wall

When the secularization of many religious buildings was imposed by the Spanish Crown
in the middle of the nineteenth century in Puerto Rico, the primary connections between
the Convento de los Dominicos (Dominican Convent) and Iglesia San Jose were sealed.
Although the original doors and archway of the connection was left intact, bricks and

12

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:12:47

PS

PAGE 12

Figure 5. Using a 1000-MHz antenna, Dr. Dean Goodman ran GPR transects along the western wall of the
Capilla de Belen (top); and a GPR-Slice image of the high-frequency antenna data superimposed on the
west wall of Capilla de Belen showing the absence of multiple construction episodes (bottom). (Pantel,
del Cueto & Associates)

rubble masonry were used to inll the doorway, sealing the wall of San Jose and the
southern gallery of the convent, which was subsequently converted into a military barracks. Hence, church and state became physically separated.
Later-twentieth-century interventions added signicant coverings of cement plasters
to the convent walls as the structure was converted into the headquarters of the Institute
of Puerto Rican Culture in the 1950s. A nal recent conversion of this building was undertaken to adapt the convent into the National Gallery of Art of Puerto Rico. Through all
these modications, the end result has been the loss of the physical and conceptual relationship between Iglesia San Jose and the original Convento de los Dominicos.
Rediscovered within San Jose in the late 1970s, the doorway remained as a vestigial
opening without function, while the convents southern gallery continued to be a single

PANTEL

................. 18237$

13

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:12:59

PS

PAGE 13

Figure 6. Examples of the documentation of controlled minimal subsurface excavations carried out to
corroborate GPR survey data for structural foundations. (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

blank wall, devoid of any relationship to its sister building. In an effort to both reestablish
the conceptual ties of the two structures for the twenty-rst century and, equally important, to provide a signicant point of natural ventilation, the decision was made to reopen
the doorway that had been sealed for more than 150 years. What then appeared to be a
relatively simple operation of breaking open the doorway soon became an administrative
issue between the church and the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture who owned the new
National Gallery. Although the general location of the opening on the convent side could
have been determined by lineal measurement from the front facades and/or by simple
drilling from the church side, the government ofcials were wary of how the opening
would affect the visual aspect of the new gallery walls. In an effort to assuage these concerns, the GPR data were able to provide the scientic documentation of exactly where
the limits of the opening would be on the convent side. A xed gate for the reopened
doorway was agreed upon beforehand as protection for both institutions.

14

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:13:22

PS

PAGE 14

Figure 7. Documentation showing the location and condition of the principal access door between the
north wall of Iglesia San Jose and its adjoining convent, which was sealed in the nineteenth century.
(Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

A single prole GPR survey was done on the full length of the southern corridor wall
of the National Gallery. The results of the GPR survey provided clear evidence of the
location and dimensions of the original convent-church doorway along the National Gallery wall and allowed the architect to submit a set of drawings with the GPR readings and
the exact location of where the wall would be reopened. Based on this information,
obtained through a nondestructive and precise method without having to break any wall
surfaces initially, the permit was given by the Institute to allow the doorway to be
reopened. As a nal result, the connection between the convent and its church are now
clearly seen by visitors to both the National Gallery and the church, as well as providing
needed ventilation for the stability of San Jose.

A Final ExampleCapilla de Belen Floor

To determine the subsurface condition of the Capilla de Belen, a GPR survey of the oor
of this space was recommended. Although the initial purpose of this survey area was to
determine subsurface moisture and the potential for Gothic-period stepped foundations
in the southeastern corner of the chapel itself, the most signicant event recorded by the
GPR survey within the Capilla de Belen were early walls adjacent to the northern entrance
to the chapel. As can be seen in the GPR-SLICE data, a small rectangular feature appears
near the entrance to the chapel at approximately one meter below the present surface of

PANTEL

................. 18237$

15

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:13:28

PS

PAGE 15

Figure 8. GPR-Slice data at one meter below surface of the floor of the Capilla de Belen showing the
location of a right-angle subsurface anomaly. This feature is shown superimposed over the present ground
floor plan. The alignment of this subsurface anomaly appears to indicate an original southern extension of
the early sixteenth-century Gothic facade of Iglesia San Jose. (Pantel, del Cueto & Associates)

the oor. When these data were overlaid onto the present oor plan by the architects, the
location and conguration of this anomaly indicated the presence of a clear extension of
the original sixteenth-century Gothic facade extending to the south into what is now the
Capilla de Belen.
This nal example is a classic demonstration of how the selection and use of specic
software can make a signicant difference in the interpretation of the data collected by a
GPR hardware unit.

Final Comments and Summary

The sequence of ground-penetrating radar surveys carried out in San Jose has shown that
evidence of construction campaigns and modications are still visible in the subsurface
archaeological record. Anomalies and subsurface features are evident in both the raw
radargrams as well as in the data processed using GPR-SLICE software.
The use of GPR as a nondestructive tool in condition surveys allows researchers to
cover signicantly larger areas than destructive and irreversible methods. The use of the
newer technologies in the Caribbean has been extremely limited in large part due to the
common belief that the techniques require expensive equipment and sophisticated technical know-how. Often, this is further exacerbated by the haphazard approach to interventions of historic buildings. Government agencies involved in the regulation of historic
properties usually favor familiar methods to study or resolve a specic issue over that of

16

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:13:44

PS

PAGE 16

newer methods aimed at identifying causality prior to any intervention. The quick-x
resolves only the immediate problem in a specic area, but does not provide a solution
to the overall condition nor does it identify the problems source. The practice of these
inappropriate interventions into the historic fabric, without understanding the causes of
the problems through systematic survey and analysis, most often results in the accelerated
and/or expanded deterioration of the property.
Nondestructive testing, such as GPR, provides insights into problems occurring below
the surface without having to destroy historic fabric and can be cost-effective in maintaining the integrity of singular historic evidence such as that of Iglesia San Jose. As in all
scientic work, negative data are just as valuable as positive data; therefore, the application of ground-penetrating radar, while not a panacea, can greatly help in determining not
only areas that are problematic, such as subsurface water inltration, but can also show
those areas that are devoid of any conservation issues. In this sense, the information
provided by systematic and/or problem-specic GPR surveys in historic sites and structures can be just as much an administrative as a documentation tool.

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following: Architect Beatriz del Cueto, FAIA, for all the background information and her unparalleled collaboration in all phases of the work. Dr. Kent
Schneider and Dr. Dean Goodman gave their time and knowledge to successfully carry out
the ground-penetrating radar projects and did the processing and analysis of the Iglesia
San Jose data sets. Dr. Dean Goodman is also to be thanked for his development and
generous support in using his GPR-SLICE software. Dr. Paola A. Schiappacasse who
assisted in all phases of the archaeology programs and in the GPR surveys. The Archdiocese of San Juan for their support and interest in protecting and restoring this unique
New World structure. The architecture students from the Polytechnic University of Puerto
Rico who helped in the GPR surveys carried out in the Plaza San Jose adjacent to the
southern entrance to Iglesia San Jose. Prof. Frank Matero and Dr. Mario Santana for organizing SMARTdoc at a time when technology and documentation need to take stock of the
past and future.

Further Reading
Conyers, Larry B., and Dean Goodman. Ground Penetrating Radar: An Introduction for Archaeologists. (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press, 1997).
Del Cueto, Beatriz and Yaritza Hernandez. Proyecto de Conservacion Iglesia San Jose Data Historica: Cronologa, Gracas y Bibliograa. Unpublished technical report, 2004.
Del Cueto, Beatriz, Agamemnon G. Pantel, et al. Iglesia San Jose Conservation Project, Condition Assessment
Report. Unpublished technical report, 2006.
Goodman, Dean, Kent Schneider, Yasushi Nishimura, Salvatore Piro, and Agamemnon G. Pantel. Ground
Penetrating Radar Advances in Subsurface Imaging for Archaeology. In Remote Sensing in Archaeology, ed. James Wiseman and Forouk El-Baz. (New York: Springer Press, 2006), 375.
GPR-SLICE, http://www.gpr-survey.com/gprslice.html.
Pantel, Agamemnon G. Iglesia San Jose Ground Penetrating Radar Survey and Interpretation, Viejo San Juan,
Puerto Rico. Unpublished technical report, 2008.

PANTEL

................. 18237$

17

THE USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR

$CH2

04-24-12 09:13:44

PS

PAGE 17

Pantel, Agamemnon G. Los Edicios Mas Antiguos del Nuevo Mundo. El Caso de la Iglesia de San Jose
en San Juan de Puerto Rico: Estudios Previos y Proyecto de Conservacion. In Actas del Seminario:
El Edicio en la Ciudad Historica: Casos y Criterios de Intervencion, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia,
Programa de Master en Conservacion del Patrimonio Arquitectonico, Valencia, Espana. Unpublished proceedings, 2008.
Pantel, Agamemnon G. and Paola A. Schiappacasse. Prospeccion Remota con Radar y Pruebas Arqueologicas
Estructurales, Iglesia San Jose, Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico. Unpublished technical report, 2009.
Robert Silman Associates. Iglesia de San Jose San Juan, Puerto Rico: Preliminary Summary of Recommendations and Observations regarding the Structural Conditions of the Iglesia San Jose. Unpublished technical report, 2003.

References
1. The survey designs, data collection, processing and analyses of the surveys were done by archaeologists
Dr. Kent Schneider and the author, in collaboration with geophysicist and GPR-SLICE software developer Dr. Dean Goodman.
2. The higher the antenna frequency, the shorter the wavelength and penetration depth. A very good
discussion of time-depth analysis can be found in Conyers and Goodman (1997), 107135. Depth
estimates for targets identied with each antenna were achieved using the hyperbola-tting method
provided in GPR-SLICE software. For the Iglesia San Jose surveys, depth to targets was estimated using
a dielectric constant (velocity) for the time-to-depth conversion. True depth may vary from the apparent depth due to lateral and vertical variations in the dielectric constant and the depth of the targets
sought. Resolution of targets with the 1500-MHz antenna was good to 20 centimeters in depth, the
1000-MHz antenna to 40 centimeters, and the 900-MHz antenna to approximately 1.00 meter in
depth. The 400-MHz antenna was used for accurate resolution to approximately 2.0 meters deep,
beyond which the antenna signal was attenuated.
3. An anomaly in a GPR data set is any disturbance in the subsurface matrix.
4. The structural engineers for the project were Robert Silman Associates, New York.

18

CHANGE OVER TIME

................. 18237$

$CH2

04-24-12 09:13:44

PS

PAGE 18