Is the use of traditional seismic strengthening strategies economically attractive in the renovation of urban cultural heritage assets in Portugal?

Abstract

This paper aims not only at raising awareness for the preservation of traditional construction techniques and materials when intervening in urban cultural heritage (UCH), but also at demystifying whether or not the integration of traditional seismic strengthening strategies in the renovation process of such assets is economically viable. In Portugal, countless UCH assets have been massively demolished and replaced by modern construction solutions over the last decades. As this phenomenon is contributing both to the mischaracterisation of the existing building stock within the majority of historical centres, and to the gradual loss of knowledge on these construction techniques, it is fundamental to tackle this issue from its very foundations, i.e., by raising the awareness and consciousness of all the involved stakeholders to the need of preserving such techniques and materials as part of the patrimonial value of UCH assets. Hence, in order to investigate the above-mentioned issues, the database created in the framework of the 1998 Azores earthquake by the Regional Secretariat for Housing and Equipment (SRHE) of Faial Island, was herein revisited. By critically handling and analysing this database, it was possible not only to investigate the economic prospects of UCHs assets’ renovation in Portugal, but also to derive new repair cost functions suitable to the Azorean traditional stone masonry building stock, that might be used to support post-disaster emergency plans and the design of risk mitigation strategies.