Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2013) 128: 33
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2013-13033-1

Regular Article

A study of the Civic Tower in Ravenna as an example of medieval towers' preservation problems

¹³²² ENEA, Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, via Martiri di Monte Sole, 4, 40129, Bologna, Italy
²³²² NEREA NEtwork per il REstauro Avanzato, laboratorio delle Reta Alta Tecnologia Regione Emilia Romagna, presso Dip. DISMEC, 48100, Ravenna, Italy
³³²² Facoltà di Conservazione dei Beni Culturali, Università di Bologna, via Mariani, 5, 48100, Ravenna, Italy
⁴³²² University of Ferrara, Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali, Earth Sciences Department, Block B, via Saragat, 1, 44122, Ferrara, Italy
⁵³²² TekneHub, Laboratory of Ferrara Technopole, Department of Earth Science, Ferrara University, Ferrara, Italy

Received: 10 December 2011
Revised: 7 February 2013
Accepted: 19 February 2013
Published online: 14 March 2013

Abstract

Structuralstabilityis a major item when considering very high masonry buildings made of stones, bricks, etc., that can start sudden structural failures and collapses, often without any obvious signs of warning. A famous example is the collapse of the belfry of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice --the implementation of it began in the ninth century-- which took place in July 1902 a few days after the appearanceof a fissure. This paper discusses the scientific investigation performed on the Torre Civica (Civic Tower) in Ravenna (North-East Italy), in order to characterize its constituent materials, namely bricks and mortar. All this information and relevant data merge in a multimedia database which will help to design appropriate conservation and restoration works, mainly concerning the reconstruction of the apical part of the tower, that was foreshortened ten years ago for safety reasons, starting from the original materials catalogued and preserved up to the present day.