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Modern societies understand built cultural heritage as a landmark of culture and diversity. Only during the last decades the idea that ancient buildings could be conserved and reused became appealing. Still, a large part of this heritage is affected by structural problems which menace the safety of buildings and people. The developments in the areas of inspection, non-destructive testing, monitoring and structural analysis of historical constructions, together with recent guidelines for reuse and conservation, allow for safer, economical and more adequate remedial measures. The paper addresses the issues of the methodology to adopt for the fabric of historic buildings, of the recent research and of some research needs, and of different cases studies
Paulo B. Lourénço (Wed,) studied this question.