Learning from failure: long-term behaviour of heavy masonry structures

This book will help architects and engineers to understand and deal with the continuous damage of heavy structures. It includes a recognition of signs of the phenomenon, proposed predictive models, and guidelines for the on-site investigation, monitoring and repair of the damaged structures.

The book examines a number of well known cases: the collapse of the Civic Tower of Pavia (March 17 1989); the collapse of the St. Marco bell-tower in Venice (1902), the collapse of the Sancta Maria Magdalena bell-tower in Dusseldorf (1992); damage to the bell-tower of the Monza Cathedral; damage to the Torrazzo in Cremona; the collapse of the Noto Cathedral (1996).

The book describes ongoing experimental research, begun in 1989, designed to examine the phenomenon. After a careful interpretation of the experimental results, also based on experience from rock mechanics and concrete, modelling of the phenomenon for massive structures as creep behaviour of masonry was implemented.