Agrigento Cathedral: Experimental Campaign and Study of Damage Evolution Addressed to the Assessment of the Collapse Risk

At present Agrigento Cathedral is affected by extensive damage that seems to be mainly due to partial slumping of the foundation soil. The chapter deals with the state of damage that affects the cathedral and the investigation carried out for the mechanical characterization of the construction, the formulation of an FE model and the assessment of the safety level with respect to the service loads and with respect to exceptional loads like seismic ones. In the chapter the details of the above investigation are discussed, consideration also being given to the monitoring carried out in order to understand whether the phenomenon affecting the cathedral is ongoing. The results of the monitoring and the experimental campaign on the structural members are described, revealing an unexpectedly low capacity with respect to service loads. Then a comparison is carried out between the response of the FE model and the experimental observations for the identification of the causes of distress. Finally possible action is discussed.