TC301 Historic Sites

Preservation of Historic Sites

Host Member Society: Italy

Short name: Historic Sites (TC301) - Terms of Reference 

GeoWorld GroupPreservation of Historic Sites (TC301)

Please visit our new TC301 website: https://tc301-historic-sites.com/ for information about the ongoing activities, for a list of upcoming and past conferences of interest, for webinars and Kerisel Lectures, as well as for a large collection of references on civil engineering aspects of the preservation of historic sites


ISSMGE Interactive Technical Talk Episode 7: Preservation of Historic Sites (TC301)

The seventh episode of International Interactive Technical Talk has just been launched and is supported by TC301. Dr. Christos Tsatsanifos, Dr. Durgadevagi Shanmugavel, Dr. Efrain Ovando-Shelley and Dr. Mai Sawada are discussing with Dr. Marc Ballouz about Preservation of Histori



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Organization of Symposia and workshops with the aim to exchange and compare experiences and to collect case histories. Two international symposia were already organized in Naples in 1996 and 2013. A special volume titled "Geotechnics and Heritage" was also published in 2013, containing invited lectures related to exemplary case records. The first J. Kerisel Special Lecture was successfull delivered by prof. Giovanni Calabresi during the 2013 ICSMGEin Paris . The second Kerisel Lecture was successfully delivered by prof. Carlo Viggiani in occasion of the 2017 Seoul ICSMGE. In 2015, two special issues of the Rivista Italiana di Geotecnica (Italian Geotechnical Journal) have been promoted with the aim of collecting additional case histories. A workshop was planned during the ECSMGE in Edinburgh and during the ICSMGE in Seoul.

Preservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves in inextricable patterns various cultural, humanistic, social, technical and economic aspects. The complexity of the topic is such that a shared framework of reference is still lacking among art historians, architects, structural and geotechnical engineers. This is proved by the fact that, although there are exemplary cases of an integral saving of any structural components with its static and architectural function, as a material witness of the knowledge, the culture and the construction techniques of the original historical period, there are still examples of uncritical confidence in modern technology which leads to the replacement of previous structures with new ones, which only preserve an iconic appearance of the original monument.

For these reasons publishing short books on specialized topics, like well documented case studies of restoration works at one specific site or of a monument, or detailed overviews of construction techniques, intended as a material witness of knowledge of the historical period in which the monuments were built, or specific conservation/preservation works, may be of great value.

The audience for such books should be professionals and academics in the wider fields of civil engineering, architecture and cultural resources management, and particularly those involved in art history, history of architecture, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, archaeology, restoration and cultural heritage management, and even the wider public.

Forthcoming titles in the series

1. General principles of preservation with emphasis on geotechnical aspects, by Giovanni Calabresi and Salvatore D’Agostino

2. The stabilization of the leaning tower of Pisa, by John Burland, Michele Jamiolkowski and Carlo Viggiani

3. The Pienza Cathedral, by Giovanni Calabresi

4. The restoration of Ghirlandina Tower in Modena and the assessment of soil-structure interaction by means of dynamic identification techniques, by Rossella Cadignani, Renato Lancellotta and Donato Sabia

5. The cathedrals of Pisa, Siena and Florence. The medieval building works, by Luca Giorgi and Pietro Matracchi

6. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City, by Efrain Ovando Shelley

7. Protecting the Sagrada Familia and Casa Milà from tunnelling construction, by Eduardo Alonso

8. Are the requirements of modern civilization compatible with the preservation of historic sites? The construction of the underground line in Naples, by Giulia Viggiani

The book series page has now been activated on the Publisher website, because the first book on the Ghirlandina tower is now in production. This is the link to the series page:
https://www.crcpress.com/Built-Heritage-and-Geotechnics/book-series/BHG

Contact / Further details

Series Editor: Prof. Renato Lancellotta ([email protected])
Publisher: Alistair Bright ([email protected])

Third Napoli (Italy) International Conference of TC301 of ISSMGE

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING FOR THE PRESERVATION OF MONUMENTS AND HISTORIC SITES

Date: 22-24 June 2022

Preliminary bulletin and call for papers

 

The conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves, in inextricable patterns, factors belonging to different fields (cultural, humanistic, social, technical, economical, administrative) and the requirements of safety and use appear (and often are) in conflict with the respect of the integrity of the monuments.

The complexity of the topic is such that a shared framework of reference is still lacking among art historians, architects, structural and geotechnical engineers.

This is proved by the fact that, although there are exemplary cases of an integral saving of any structural component with its static and architectural function, as a material witness of the culture and the construction techniques of the original historical period, there are still examples of uncritical confidence in modern technology which lead to the replacement of previous structures with new ones, which only preserve an iconic appearance of the original monument.

The possibility of finding in practice an acceptable equilibrium is linked to the development of a shared culture. For this reason, the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering promoted over 30 years ago an ad hoc Committee (on Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites), as suggested by Jean Kerisel and Arrigo Croce. Since that founding period, a number of international and regional symposia have been organised, and in recognition of his pioneering work a honour lecture has been dedicated to Jean Kerisel. The first Kerisel Lecture was delivered  at  International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ICSMGE) in 2013 in Paris; the second one at the ICSMGE in Seoul in 2017, and the third one will be offered during next International Conference of the TC301, which is now announced and will be held in Naples in June 2022, following the successful tradition started with the previous ones in 1996 and 2013.

Moving from general principles and maintenance strategies of conservation, the conference is addressed not only to geotechnical engineers but also to professionals from other disciplines to debate what is worth preserving and how is it possible. The contribution of investigation and monitoring, performed to reach a deep knowledge of the monument and its construction history, a prerequisite of any maintenance strategy, is a corollary theme of the conference. 

In addition to basic requirements regarding the safegarding and preservation of a single monument, a further very important task to be debated concerns the compatibility of demand of modern civilization with the preservation of historic sites and heritage. There is a need of

expanding the reference terms, by considering the effects of urban developments and tunneling on built heritage, as well as considering the preservation of "diffuse heritage", i.e. problems related to the scale of urban environment (slope stability, natural and man induced subsidence, underground infrastructures).

Dynamic identification analyses, effects of local soil condition and influence of soil-structure interaction are further demanding themes to be addressed in relation to seismic risk and mitigation measures.     

important dates 

abstract submission: 31 May 2021 

abstract acceptance: 30 June 2021 

full paper submission: 30 November 2021 

final paper acceptance: 28 February 2022

 

main topics 

• principles of conservation, maintenance strategies, case histories 

• the knowledge: investigations and monitoring 

• seismic risk, site effects, soil-structure interaction 

• effects of urban development and tunnellingon built heritage 

• preservation of diffuse heritage: soil instability, subsidence, environmental damages 

 

 http://www.tc301-napoli.org

 

By considering that each monuments is a "unicum" and taking into account the concept of "integrity" it is rather difficult to apply approaches based on guidelines to the preservation of monuments. Therefore the effort is devoted to

  • framing of the special requirements and constraints to be considered in any rehabilitation intervention on Monuments in order to preserve their of cultural and historical integrity;
  • geotechnical methodologies suitable for the interventions on Monuments and Historic sites.

The goal is to try and have special sessions in geotechnical conferences, and to establish stronger connections with structural engineers and geologists to have common events on the preservation of historic sites. The TC will assist and promote these actions, both in person and online

No special links have been yet established, by considering the peculiarity of this topic.

# Type Full Name Country
1 Chair Alessandro Flora Italy
2 Secretary Jitesh T. Chavda India
3 Nominated by TC Chair Carlo Viggiani Italy
4 Nominated by TC Chair Giovanni Calabresi Italy
5 Nominated by TC Chair John Burland United Kingdom
6 Nominated by TC Chair Efraìn Ovando Shelley Mexico
7 Nominated Member Charles Augarde United Kingdom
8 Corresponding Member Renato Lancellotta Italy
9 Nominated Member Jamie Standing United Kingdom
10 Nominated Member Mamoru Mimura Japan
11 Nominated Member Chikaosa Tanimoto Japan
12 Nominated Member V. Ulitsky Russia
13 Nominated Member Omar Amer Egypt
14 Corresponding Member Anargyros Alexandris Greece
15 Corresponding Member Dimitrios Egglezos Greece
16 Nominated Member Patrick Yong Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
17 Nominated Member Ivo Herle Germany
18 Corresponding Member Heon-Joon PARK South Korea
19 Corresponding Member A. Murali Krishna India
20 Corresponding Member Yoshinori Iwasaki Japan
21 Nominated Member Kari Avellan Finland
22 Corresponding Member Orhan Inanir Turkey
23 Nominated Member Merita Guri Albania
24 Nominated Member Lysandros Pantelidis Cyprus
25 Nominated Member Michael Bardanis Greece
26 Corresponding Member Daniele Spizzichino Italy
27 Nominated Member Christos Tsatsanifos Greece
28 Corresponding Member Harry Saroglou Greece
29 Nominated Member Masoud Makarchian Iran
30 Nominated Member Panicos Papadopoulos Cyprus
31 Nominated Member K. Muthukkumaran India
32 Nominated Member Rui Tomásio Portugal
33 Nominated Member Guilherme Pisco Portugal
34 Nominated Member Hongwei Sun China
35 Corresponding Member John Lambert Netherlands
36 Corresponding Member Mai Sawada Japan
37 Corresponding Member Ana Heitor United Kingdom
38 Corresponding Member Francisco Javier Torrijo Spain
39 Corresponding Member Carlos Merino Spain
40 Nominated Member José Antonio Fernández Spain
41 Nominated Member Nicolas Carpentier France
42 Nominated Member Pilar Rodríguez Monteverde Spain
43 Corresponding Member Stephan Jefferis United Kingdom
44 Nominated Member Jean-David VERNHES France
45 Nominated Member Guido Gottardi Italy
46 Nominated Member Stefano Aversa Italy

Contact Technical Committee : Preservation of Historic Sites

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