After years: The clock of the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine works again..

The fate of the clock of the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine was linked to the fate of the sanctuary of Aba al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon him), as when the holy shrine was bombed in the Ottoman era, the clock was also subject to the bombing , resulting its malfunction. It was also exposed to vandalism during the Sha'ban uprising in 1991-1411AH, when the holy dome of the Master Aba Al-Fadl Al-Abbas (peace be upon him) was hit by a heavy gun and the clock tower and its parts were damaged. Many maintenace works were carried out to restore it but it did not longer work like before.
After that the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine has witnessed a quantum leap of its horizontal expansion project as well as its gates' expansion. It was put into consideration the clock tower, which was allocated an special project, starting with removing the old structure located above the gate of the shrine's Qibla without causing any damage to it, and setting it on special metal pieces forming a bridge above the gate, in order to maintain its overall structure and form, which is a square tower topped by a small dome designed in the form of war helmet, based on a iron square-shaped interconnected base.
The head of Engineering Projects Department at the Al-Abbas's (p) holy shrine; Engineer Dea' Majeed Al-Sa'igh explained to Al-Kafeel Network: "The Clock Tower is similar to the old tower, in the same location and with the same specifications and dimensions, with few simple chamges to the outer frame of the clock, passing through several works, as after taking off the old cover and repairing the damage, the works included covering it with an galvanic iron knotworks that was tightly binded to the structure and plated with cement and anti-moisture texture to make it a whole bloc , then covered by the streaky Kashi Karbalai and gold same way done in the Iwans of the holy shrine to create a symmetry and to unify the form."
Explaining: "The tower base was in the form of a metal structure enveloped also by special materials having the form and measurements of a lozenge, and painted by texture that is resistant to moisture and weather conditions. The minaret crown of the clock tower (helmet) was covered by 2 mm gilded plates using the technique of knocking on the suede by 250 grams per square meter."
The Managing Director of the "Ard Al-Quds" company -the company executing this project- Engineer Hameed Majeed Al-Sa'igh explained to Al-Kafeel Network: The clock is characterized by great technical specifications, for which the best engineering staff have harnessed all their efforts to develop its designs, the installation of the clock bagan on all four sides under the supervision of a delegate of the manufacturing German company "Perrot" according to the contract signed with them. It was taken into account in the clock of the tower many technical details, since it is equipped with GPS system in addition to the lighting and the audio system provided with four speakers (of 2000 watts) and four speakers with a diameter of 50 cm for a hearing power of 50 to 70 Watts for more than 1000 meters, in addition to a special lighting for the moving hands and the numbers in red and green, and a binary engine made of steel iron. The two moving hands are inlaid with gold at the edges. As well as the protection device (Ups) with a storage capacity of 15 minutes. The clock is also charcterized by its design that is similar to the old clock to create a design that joins the heritage to modernity."