State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening
Historic concrete buildings are at risk. Limited knowledge of concrete technology until the 1960s led to more sensitive buildings than modern concrete buildings. In addition, the lack of sensibility regarding their heritage value and insufficient protection is leading to remorseless demolition. Stil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Infrastructures |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/6/8/109 |
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| author | Gabriel Pardo Redondo Giovanna Franco Antroula Georgiou Ioannis Ioannou Barbara Lubelli Stefano F. Musso Silvia Naldini Cristiana Nunes Rita Vecchiattini |
| author_facet | Gabriel Pardo Redondo Giovanna Franco Antroula Georgiou Ioannis Ioannou Barbara Lubelli Stefano F. Musso Silvia Naldini Cristiana Nunes Rita Vecchiattini |
| author_sort | Gabriel Pardo Redondo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Historic concrete buildings are at risk. Limited knowledge of concrete technology until the 1960s led to more sensitive buildings than modern concrete buildings. In addition, the lack of sensibility regarding their heritage value and insufficient protection is leading to remorseless demolition. Still, concrete has proved to be a resilient material that can last over a century with proper care. There is not yet an estimation of the status of historic concrete buildings in Europe. Until now, a few attempts have been done to secondarily, and subjectively, gauge their conservation status. This paper is the result of a joint investigation studying forty-eight historic concrete buildings distributed in four countries. They were surveyed by expert teams according to a predefined methodology. The study aims to identify recurrent damages and parameters affecting the conservation state. It also aims to serve as the first trial for an objective and measurable methodology, to apply it with a statistically significant number of cases. Damages related to the corrosion of reinforcement and moisture-related processes were the most recurrent. The use of plasters, flat roofs, and structural façade walls show a positive effect in protecting the concrete. The state of conservation has a great variability across countries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:43:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-925f445e14e144029cfc7d26266f07f2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2412-3811 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:43:04Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Infrastructures |
| spelling | doaj.art-925f445e14e144029cfc7d26266f07f22023-11-22T08:06:25ZengMDPI AGInfrastructures2412-38112021-08-016810910.3390/infrastructures6080109State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European ScreeningGabriel Pardo Redondo0Giovanna Franco1Antroula Georgiou2Ioannis Ioannou3Barbara Lubelli4Stefano F. Musso5Silvia Naldini6Cristiana Nunes7Rita Vecchiattini8Department of Architectural Engineering and Technology, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The NetherlandsArchitecture and Design Department, University of Genoa (UNIGE), 16123 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus (UCY), Nicosia 1678, CyprusDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus (UCY), Nicosia 1678, CyprusDepartment of Architectural Engineering and Technology, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The NetherlandsArchitecture and Design Department, University of Genoa (UNIGE), 16123 Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Architectural Engineering and Technology, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The NetherlandsDepartment of Materials, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ITAM CAS), 190 00 Prague, Czech RepublicArchitecture and Design Department, University of Genoa (UNIGE), 16123 Genoa, ItalyHistoric concrete buildings are at risk. Limited knowledge of concrete technology until the 1960s led to more sensitive buildings than modern concrete buildings. In addition, the lack of sensibility regarding their heritage value and insufficient protection is leading to remorseless demolition. Still, concrete has proved to be a resilient material that can last over a century with proper care. There is not yet an estimation of the status of historic concrete buildings in Europe. Until now, a few attempts have been done to secondarily, and subjectively, gauge their conservation status. This paper is the result of a joint investigation studying forty-eight historic concrete buildings distributed in four countries. They were surveyed by expert teams according to a predefined methodology. The study aims to identify recurrent damages and parameters affecting the conservation state. It also aims to serve as the first trial for an objective and measurable methodology, to apply it with a statistically significant number of cases. Damages related to the corrosion of reinforcement and moisture-related processes were the most recurrent. The use of plasters, flat roofs, and structural façade walls show a positive effect in protecting the concrete. The state of conservation has a great variability across countries.https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/6/8/109assessmentconcretedamage processesdecay patternshistoric structures |
| spellingShingle | Gabriel Pardo Redondo Giovanna Franco Antroula Georgiou Ioannis Ioannou Barbara Lubelli Stefano F. Musso Silvia Naldini Cristiana Nunes Rita Vecchiattini State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening Infrastructures assessment concrete damage processes decay patterns historic structures |
| title | State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening |
| title_full | State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening |
| title_fullStr | State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening |
| title_full_unstemmed | State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening |
| title_short | State of Conservation of Concrete Heritage Buildings: A European Screening |
| title_sort | state of conservation of concrete heritage buildings a european screening |
| topic | assessment concrete damage processes decay patterns historic structures |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/6/8/109 |
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