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ISSMGE: {"category":"webinar","subjects":["Other"],"number":"TC301-02","instructors":["Guido Gottardi","Arun Menon"]} Lecture Series on "Conservation of Heritage Sites"

Lecture Series on "Conservation of Heritage Sites"


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Lecture 1: Investigation and Preservation of Historic Tower Foundations

Historic towers are distinctive features of the Italian heritage. Since Middle Age, bell towers and civic towers started to populate little towns and major urban areas, like Venice and Bologna. The number of towers could become quite impressive with respect to the city size at the time of their construction; unfortunately, most of them collapsed or were demolished over the centuries. Nowadays, only a few of these delicate structures are still standing and their preservation poses several unique and interdisciplinary challenges. The geotechnical perspective in a thorough investigation process, in understanding the critical issues and in providing the relevant engineering solutions is clearly fundamental. The webinar aims at presenting a couple of well documented and instructive case studies where extensive real-time monitoring systems have made possible the implementation of gradual approaches and flexible methodologies for the strengthening of historic foundations, still preserving their full integrity and authenticity.

Presenter

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Dr. Guido Gottardi, Professor, University of Bologna, Italy

Dr. Guido Gottardi is a distinguished Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Bologna, Italy. He holds a high school diploma in classical studies in Venice, followed by an exemplary M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Padova, and a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the Technical University of Torino. Dr. Gottardi's academic pursuits have taken him around the globe, including a period as a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the British Universities of Southampton and Oxford. Dr. Gottardi is a prolific researcher, with over 150 scientific papers to his name, covering a wide range of geotechnical subjects. He has contributed significantly to professional organizations, serving as President of the National Group of Geotechnical Engineering, contributing to international technical committees and the coordinator of the Italian group of academic geotechnical professors and researchers. Additionally, Dr. Gottardi provides technical support to various projects, including environmental and geotechnical monitoring, also of historic structures. His expertise and leadership have earned him recognition as a visiting professor at esteemed foreign universities and as an external reviewer for international geotechnical journals.

Lecture 2: Potential Areas of Research and Development in Structural Conservation of Historical Structures

The lecture explores important research areas in historical construction safety, emphasizing collaboration between structural and geotechnical engineers. The lecture covers the description of typical foundation systems of heritage structures, numerical model calibration considering soil-structure interaction effects, structural challenges related to retaining wall deterioration, and research on traditional knowledge systems. Many ancient buildings lack formal foundations, instead relying on massive stone plinths on which the superstructure is assembled with almost no moment-resisting connections; for example, the Kedarnath Temple, built on a manmade stone platform, and the Ramappa Temple, which uses a sandbox foundation both relying on large precompression forces for lateral resistance at the foundation level. The calibration of the numerical models using parameters of the dynamic response from ambient vibration testing (AVT) and dynamic identification (DI) to develop reliable models is standard practice today. However, it is essential to note that the measured dynamic response from AVT does not decouple the structural response from SSI effects; therefore, an approach in the numerical modelling capable of calibrating not only structural parameters but also soil response could be warranted in cases where SSI effects are not negligible to ensure accurate simulations. The case on the deterioration of retaining walls, especially when they contain intricate sculptures (such as the case with the world-famous Step Well of Gujarat), make structural repairs or interventions to arrest material degradation complex. Lastly, the importance of research on traditional construction knowledge related to the domain of geotechnical engineering, retrieved from ancient tests on building and temple construction such as Kāśypa Śilpaśāstra and Mayamatam, needs attention, and particularly integration with modern engineering to improve conservation efforts.

Presenter

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Dr. Arun Menon, Professor, IIT Madras, Italy

Arun Menon, Professor of Structural Engineering at IIT Madras, holds a first degree in architecture, and a PhD in earthquake engineering from the University of Pavia, Italy (ROSE School). His research interests are in structural aspects of historical constructions, earthquake behaviour of historical masonry structures, earthquake-resistant structural masonry, and earthquake risk assessment. He currently coordinates the activities of the National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures, a Ministry of Education (Govt. of India) - supported research center at IIT Madras. He was an Expert Member of the International Coordinating Committee (BICC) for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bagan, Myanmar. He is currently a Member, Expert Advisory Group to International Conservation Committee (ICC) for Vat Phou UNESCO World Heritage Site in Laos PDR. He is an expert member of ISCARSAH. He has been involved in many conservation projects in India, active Member and Convener, Panel Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) related to Masonry. He is Convener, Cluster-E (Masonry, Timber, Cultural Heritage) - Technical Activities Committee (TAC) of International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), Paris.

  1. Subjects

    Other

  2. Course Number

    TC301-02

  3. Course Launched

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