Geotechnical problems in the consolidation of buildings of historical interest

Abstract

The structural damages of ancient structures and monuments are very often due to differential settlements of their foundations, or to other effects of soil-structure interaction. A correct analysis of the damaging phenomena should be based on a sound geotechnical engineering approach, which requires expensive and long investigations on the mechanical characteristics of the foundation soils. However the last decade’s progress in construction technologies has offered a new and flexible kind of solutions to consolidate foundation structures that are often quicker and less expensive than a serious and complete geotechnical study. Therefore very often one of the above-mentioned solutions is simply adopted avoiding any previous study. The paper briefly illustrates the main negative effects of that approach, referring to some interesting case histories.