Adobe Buildings Research Articles

Experimental investigation into the effect of vertical loading on in-plane cyclic behavior of adobe walls

Adobe buildings are highly susceptible to lateral loads, which is responsible for their collapse during earthquakes in the past resulting in vast damages and immense human casualties. Nonetheless, a majority of such buildings in the seismic-prone regions worldwide, including those in the Iranian plateau, are in every-day use. Thus, close examination of their behavior under lateral loading is vital for developing appropriate retrofit techniques aimed at preventing their severe damage and the associated casualties during strong ground motions. Towards this, the present experimental investigation was designed and implemented to study the in-plane lateral behavior of adobe walls under different axial pre-compression loads. The experimental program consisted of 12 adobe wall panels, all 1000 mm long and 200 mm thick but of three different heights of 800, 900, and 1000 mm. Loading was applied in the form of an incremental lateral loading regime in the presence of four vertical pre-compression stresses of 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 MPa. The aim was to investigate the effects of vertical loading and wall height on the in-plane lateral responses of adobe walls. The results were compared in terms of hysteretic load-displacement response, lateral resistance, displacement capacity, ductility, stiffness degradation, and energy absorption. Another aspect of the study involves a detailed examination of the failure modes and general behavior of the specimens.

Arquitectura prehispánica de tierra: conservación de las Huacas de Moche, Perú.

El documento expone los resultados de una evaluación físico-química del patio ceremonial “Serpientes Entrelazadas”, ubicado en la plataforma Uhle de Huaca de la Luna, valle Moche, en la costa norte de Perú. Este templo es un edificio de adobes, conformado por plataformas superpuestas, que aún conserva unos diez mil metros cuadrados de murales polícromos, asociados a su función litúrgica. El principal objetivo de este trabajo, es determinar en el laboratorio la composicion física y química del material arcilloso, usado como argamasa para la fábrica de adobes, construcción de muros, modelar relieves y enlucir paramentos, pisos y cubiertas. Para ello, se propone caracterizar la patología en función al problema y a la naturaleza de los materiales, en base a exámenes transversales y estandarizados que demuestren la mecánica de la pérdida de masa, por un fuerte impacto ambiental sobre estructuras frágiles, fatigadas y vulnerables. Con estos resultados se pretende reorientar el enfoque de la metodología y las técnicas de análisis, reorganizar la base de datos e indicadores de anteriores temporadas de trabajo, mejorando los protocolos de registro y documentación, refuerzo estructural, consolidación de las superficies arquitectónicas, monitoreo y diagnóstico de las superficies intervenidas, procesos que serán replicables en todo el monumento y en otros sitios similares de la costa norperuana.

TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE AND CONTEXT-BASED APPROACH TO ANTI-SEISMIC RETROFITTING TECHNIQUES FOR VERNACULAR ADOBE BUILDINGS IN COLOMBIA

Abstract. In Colombia earthen buildings, mostly adobe, makes up 80% of the national monumental heritage and historic urban centres. Moreover, vernacular earthen techniques have been largely used for dwellings in rural villages, small towns or informal settlements and represent, nowadays, a huge architectural and cultural heritage of the country. Due the brittle behaviour and low ductility of the building material, characterized by both low tensile and bending strength, earth constructions show high seismic vulnerability; nevertheless, though Colombian earthquake hazard level is considered very high, current national seismic building regulations do not include any reference to earthen architecture. Seismic failure mechanisms most frequently occurring to masonry architecture, as adobe buildings rehabilitation techniques and seismic behaviour improvement practices, have been widely published. This paper aims to investigate possible causes associated to failure mechanisms due to common adobe building practices in Colombia and intervention strategies, to be eventually implemented in order to reduce risks. The paper focuses on strategies and technologies for seismic retrofitting, while evaluating their effectiveness and feasibility through ‘sustainability’ indicators, based on literature quantitative and qualitative data, and strictly related to rural Colombian economic, social and environmental conditions, where available resources are scarce and labour often not qualified.

PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF VERNACULAR ADOBE HERITAGE LOCATED IN SEISMIC-PRONE REGIONS

Abstract. In general, relevant actions to retrofit heritage should be considered before the occurrence of earthquakes. This proactive approach is preferred, rather than a reactive approach in an emergency situation, following the earthquake. These preventive actions are known as disaster mitigation, risk mitigation, disaster risk management, seismic upgrading and preventive conservation. In the case of vernacular heritage, poor workmanship, lack of financial support, vast number of buildings, and the use of weak material lead to the need to conduct efforts to develop preventive conservation methods with relevant criteria. All these actions were directed to protecting vernacular heritage from multiple potential damages that could threaten this architecture in the future. In recent years, records of casualty and losses due to earthquakes reveal that seismic events can be one of the most destructive potential damages for building, especially if constructed with a weak material, such as adobe. There is little literature concerning preventive conservation of vernacular adobe buildings, which are at risk from earthquakes. Vernacular architecture needs more consideration due to the high number of vernacular dwellings worldwide but especially due to the inhabitants’ safety. Failure to recall the effects of destructive earthquakes with a large recurrent period of seismic actions, but also economic reasons lead to the neglect of these important preventive solutions. The main objective of this paper is to emphasize that a comprehensive conservation procedure related to prevention of casualties and damage of vernacular adobe heritage located in seismic-prone regions, should consider relevant principles and criteria for the conservation of cultural heritage. In the field of preventive conservation of adobe vernacular heritage located in seismic-prone regions, there is some confusion concerning the relation between the conservation process and the seismic protection process; the importance and need of conservation principles in seismic protection procedures; and also the role of the architect and of the engineer in these processes. These matters will be discussed in the current paper.

Experimental investigation on axially loaded adobe masonry columns confined by polymeric straps

Due to widespread applications of adobe masonry construction in rural areas of many seismic-prone countries, there is a high demand for conducting research on retrofitting of adobe buildings; however, such research is scarce. Among various structural aspects, confinement of an assemblage of adobe (i.e., unbaked clay brick) units and mud mortar is of primary concern in the current paper. To this aim, scaled adobe columns were wrapped by polypropylene (PP) straps, which are low-strength and low-cost polymeric materials, and were tested under uniaxial compression. The PP straps are placed at a certain interval while the two ends of a strap are joined together by a steel wire. No bonding agent is used between the straps and adobe surface. Three series of adobe columns with different aspect ratios of the cross section and different arrangements of adobe units in the cross section plan are examined and the experimental results in terms of axial stress versus axial strain, crack patterns, lateral strain variations, and tensile strain in the confining straps are reported. The comparison between the non-retrofitted adobe specimens and their confined counterparts revealed that the proposed retrofit technique by use of PP straps is highly efficient in improving the compressive strength and, more importantly, the ultimate axial strain of adobe columns. Besides, the retrofitted adobe specimens could maintain a considerable amount of post-peak residual strength up to large axial displacements. Finally, the experimental outcomes on the compressive strength are compared with predictions of an equation available in the literature.

Assessment of Combined In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Fragility Functions for Adobe Masonry Buildings in the Peruvian Andes

In the city of Cusco and in other parts of Peruvian andes, adobe masonry is the primarily construction material. Adobe continues being used for the construction of housing due to its low cost, its thermal properties, the use of unskilled labor as well as the local traditions of the Peruvian highlands. The Peruvian National Statistics Office (INEI) estimates that 67% of rural housing in Cusco is made of adobe masonry. Besides, previous seismic events and laboratory tests demonstrated that adobe dwellings without reinforcement are prone to collapse during an earthquake. Therefore, seismic vulnerability assessment of this type of dwellings is necessary aiming at developing proper contingency and mitigation risk policies. Then, fragility curves constitute a key tool when conducting seismic loss assessment since they provide information regarding the probability of exceeding a certain damage Limit State (LS) as a function of a given engineering demand parameter. This work aims at developing fragility curves, combining in-plane and out-of-plane loading conditions, for typical adobe buildings located in the city of Cusco. Initially, a set of one and two-story adobe houses were studied to determine the geometrical characteristics of representative local building typologies. Subsequently, 1000 artificial buildings were generated by means of Monte Carlo simulation based on the information gathered. The structural capacity of each artificial building was represented by simplified bilinear and trilinear capacity curves for in-plane and out-of-plane mechanisms, respectively. In order to represent the characteristics associated with subduction processes a set of ground motion records was established. The damage state of each building was assessed for each seismic record, and this information was collected into a Probability Damage Matrix (DPM). Finally, fragility curves were fitted for each damage state of the cumulative DPM. Preliminary results show that one and two-story adobe dwellings have a probability of collapse of 30% and 60%, respectively, when considering a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.30 g, which corresponds to the expected acceleration related to a return period of 475 years over a soil type 2 according to the Peruvian Standards.

Improving the adobe material properties by laser material processing

Many of the old heritage buildings and even many current buildings in the world are made of adobe, which is a sustainable, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly material. The adobe buildings react harmoniously against gravity or lateral forces, but structural fractures and sudden forces such as natural disasters or moisture leakage are the main causes of making them vulnerable, especially against earthquakes. Strengthening and reinforcement of adobe materials have long been discussed, and techniques such as adding materials to adobe or plastering adobe walls have been used to increase its resistance. Here, laser shock processing operation is exploited to analyze the extent of change in mechanical strength and moisture resistance of adobe material and ultimately to test its applicability to heritage buildings. The distance between the focal point of the laser beam and the surface of the adobe is optimized while an optimum value is also obtained for laser intensity. Laser radiation increases the compressive strength and flexural strength of the adobe by 348% and 12%, with respect to the raw material, whereas no significant difference is observed in the tensile strength. Nevertheless, the hydrophobicity of the samples increases by upper defocus and increasing the defocus, improves the soil adhesion, and escalates the homogeneity and integrity of the surface. Microstructural analysis such as SEM, EDAX and XRD of raw, and laser-treated adobe material confirm these improvements and overall render laser treatments an interesting, beneficial candidate among adobe reinforcement techniques.

Seismic vulnerability assessment and reduction at a territorial scale on masonry and adobe housing by rapid vulnerability indicators: The case of Tlajomulco, Mexico

The town of Tlajomulco, Mexico is under high seismic hazard by its proximity to very active seismic zones. The seismic risk is increased by the presence of vulnerable auto-constructed houses. This research provides different seismic damage scenarios at a territorial scale by correlating the vulnerability class and level of expected damage with the seismic intensity. Four different housing typologies were identified: adobe, unreinforced masonry, poorly confined and confined masonry. The seismic vulnerability evaluation was developed by an updated version of the vulnerability index method with the use of nine parameters instead of eleven and without the need of plans and other detailed graphical information. The correlation allowed to determine four damage scenarios for 15,000 buildings. In case of an intensity of VI, 2583 houses with high and very high vulnerability would need a major reparable damage. For an intensity of VII, major damage to 1600 poorly confined masonry and unreinforced masonry, and the collapse of 983 adobe houses. Major damage to 12,417 houses for an intensity of VIII with the loss of 2583 poorly confined, unreinforced masonry and adobe buildings. An intensity of IX or higher would collapse all the studied buildings. These results would allow the local authorities and decision makers to manage the seismic risk. For poorly confined masonry and unreinforced masonry it is recommended the insertion of concrete confinements or welded steel wire mesh to increase shear and bending resistance. For adobe houses, it is recommended the addition of chicken wire mesh and plaster or the use of natural fibers and timber.

Seasonality in Site Response: An Example from Two Historical Earthquakes in Kazakhstan

AbstractDuring the past 150 yr, the city of Almaty (formerly Verny) in Kazakhstan has suffered significant damage due to several large earthquakes. The 9 June 1887 Mw 7.3 Verny earthquake occurred at a time when the city mainly consisted of adobe buildings with a population of 30,000, with it being nearly totally destroyed with 300 deaths. The 3 January 1911 Mw 7.8 Kemin earthquake caused 390 deaths, with 44 in Verny itself. Remarkably, this earthquake, which occurred around 40 km from Verny, caused significant soil deformation and ground failure in the city. A crucial step toward preparing for future events, mitigating against earthquake risk, and defining optimal engineering designs, involves undertaking site response studies. With regard to this, we investigate the possibility that the extreme ground failure observed after the 1911 Kemin earthquake could have been enhanced by the presence of a shallow frozen ground layer that may have inhibited the drainage of pore pressure excess through the surface, therefore inducing liquefaction at depth. We make use of information collected regarding the soil conditions around the city at the time of the earthquakes, the results from seismic noise analysis, borehole data, and surface temperature data. From these datasets, we estimated the necessary parameters for evaluating the dynamic properties of the soil in this area. We successively characterize the corresponding sediment layers at the sites of the observed liquefaction. Although the estimated soil parameters are not optimally constrained, the dynamic analysis, carried out using selected strong‐motion recordings that are expected to be compatible with the two considered events, indicated that the extensive ground failure that occurred during the Kemin event could be due to the presence of a superficial frozen soil layer. Our results indicate that for this region, possible seasonal effects should, therefore, be considered when undertaking site effect studies.

Environmental and Ambient Vibration Monitoring of Historical Adobe Buildings: Applications in Emblematic Andean Churches

ABSTRACT This paper presents the application of long-term environmental and structural remote monitoring in two emblematic 16th-century adobe churches located in southern Peru. The paper starts by presenting details of the planning and installation processes of the monitoring systems and continues with a detailed discussion of the results of almost two years of continuous monitoring. As expected, due to the large thermal inertia of the adobe systems and size of the buildings, the results of the environmental monitoring indicated a non-uniform distribution of temperature and relative humidity inside the buildings, and an important attenuation of the internal conditions in comparison with the external ones. On the other hand, the structural monitoring results evidenced an annual cyclical behavior of the natural frequencies with an apparent correspondence with the changes in environmental conditions due to seasonal influences. The correlation of ambient conditions and structural parameters confirmed the high affinity between relative humidity measurements and natural frequencies when hourly fluctuations were removed from the measurements. An important novelty is the affinity of structural dynamic properties and a single environmental variable, the absolute humidity, was also evidenced since high determination coefficients were obtained when it was compared with the identified natural frequencies.

DEVELOPING OF A GIS TOOL TO ESTIMATE THE REPAIR COST OF BUILDINGS DUE TO EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS IN PERU

Along the history, Peru have suffered many human and material losses due to the effects of natural hazards, particularly earthquakes, only in the capital city, Lima, three large earthquakes have occurred in the last century, in 1940, 1966 and 1974. But hazards itselves would not become disasters without a vulnerable population, which is the case of Peru, where the growing and developing of cities has lacked of any planification and it has been disordered, with people building without following the current regulatory framework that ensures good structural behavior during a severe seismic event. For those reasons, among others, is needed a tool that permits the identification of highly risk areas in case of earthquakes. The current study proposes an automated system on a GIS platform that allows to estimate the damage effects of earthquakes in buildings, showing the results as repairing costs. Using as basis Geotechnical information like peak ground acceleration (PGA) or Spectral acceleration (Sa), urban cadaster information (material of the building, the soil, the number of stories, etc.) and using the outputs of experimental tests and analytic simulations for different building types used in Peruvian territory, like masonry buildings, reinforced concrete buildings, adobe or quincha buildings, wooden buildings among others. This tool would allow stakeholders to have an idea of the expected damage for the next quake and would help them to take actions before the event, actions like retrofitting or relocating buildings.

Role of fiber inclusion in adobe masonry construction

Adobe masonry construction constitutes a notable portion of the buildings in both urban and rural areas in less developed countries. Seismic performance of adobe buildings is poor, and low-cost retrofitting measures are required to enhance the resilience of such buildings during an earthquake. In this study, mechanical properties of fiber reinforced and unreinforced adobe masonry were investigated. Sisal fibers with length of 25 mm were used as reinforcing elements for mortar and adobe bricks at a fiber content of 0.75%. A series of laboratory tests were performed on masonry triplets, couplets and prisms to determine shear strength, tensile resistance and compressive strength, respectively. Uniaxial compression and diagonal compression shear tests were performed on wallets and wall panels, respectively to determine compressive strength and shear strength of the adobe masonry. Finite element linear elastic analysis was conducted using ANSYS Finite-Element code to evaluate the stress state of loaded wall panels. The structural design of adobe masonry walls was carried out according to BS5628 and Eurocode 6 standards, by utilising material properties acquired from the experiments. The results showed that fiber inclusion in the mortar caused an increase in tensile strength of 31%, friction coefficient of 22%, and prism compressive strength of 25% compared with unreinforced mortar. The reinforced wallets exhibited a twofold increase in compressive strength while reinforced wall panels indicated threefold increase in shear strength. The stress state in the reinforced and unreinforced wall panels was not a pure shear state and was better described by RILEM recommendations. The allowable vertical load resistance was found to be 40 kN/m and 100 kN/m for unreinforced and reinforced walls, respectively. The allowable lateral shear resistance was found to be 25 kN/m and 80 kN/m for unreinforced and reinforced walls, respectively. Reinforced masonry elements exhibited considerable ductility and unreinforced masonry elements showed brittle behaviour.

Adobe Blocks in the Center of Portugal: Main Characteristics

ABSTRACT Earth construction is the oldest building practice known. The adobe is a simple and sustainable type of earth construction. Many of adobe buildings are in an advanced state of degradation due to the effect of natural agents and to the aging of constituent materials. There is a strong concern with these materials, because in addition to their sustainability, they are also the mark of generations and heritage of each region and country. Therefore, it is necessary to have deep knowledge of the different compositions, as well as of other properties of the adobes, to infer which compatible materials to use in the interventions taking into account each type of adobe blocks. In this article, 41 different adobe blocks from the central coast of Portugal were characterized. It is concluded that there are 5 main types of adobes, which stand out for their visual properties (color and texture), 4 types of adobe blocks according to the mineralogy, and 3 groups of adobe blocks regarding the other properties such as chemical composition and their mechanical behaviour. In general terms, adobes consist mainly of quartz, calcite, and phyllosilicates. The studied adobe blocks have mechanical strengths ranging from 0.30–3.50 MPa.

Analysis of the long and short-term effects of temperature and humidity on the structural properties of adobe buildings using continuous monitoring

The analysis of the evolution of modal properties and its relationship with changes in environmental properties (i.e. ambient temperature and relative humidity) is of high importance since their effects along time can mask the influence of structural damage. While structural monitoring studies to assess the relationship between modal parameters and environmental conditions are abundantly available for modern materials constructions (i.e. concrete or steel), very few studies are reported for adobe buildings. The present paper focuses on the study of the short and long-term structural behavior of existing adobe buildings through the long-term monitoring of ambient vibration and environmental conditions. With this purpose, the paper describes in detail the case study of the San Pedro Apostol Church of Andahuaylillas located in Cusco, inside the Andean region of Peru, a 16th-century church considered as a masterpiece of South American baroque architecture. The paper starts with a historical, architectural, and structural description of the case study. Then, it describes the implementation of a long-term monitoring system of ambient vibration and environmental variables, as well as the results of almost one year of continuous monitoring process. Finally, the obtained results of natural frequencies are correlated with ambient parameters, demonstrating different timescale influences in the modal properties due to daily and seasonal variations of the environmental conditions.

Effect of Clay Additives in the Control of Temperature and Relative Humidity inside an Adobe Room

Adobe buildings have been in used over a long period of time in many parts of the world, more especially in the African continent. It has been used to satisfy the shelter need for human comfort, animals comfort and preservation of food crops that are very important for human lives. To prevent the heat from the sun radiation to have a severer effect on the items, Adobe building was used for its ability to control temperature and humidity fluctuations within the building. In this work, two rooms were constructed one with adobe and the other with an additives material to the adobe. A study on the thermal performance of the two rooms was carried out to compare the inside rooms temperature and relative humidity. It was found that the average differences in the inside temperature and relative humidity were -2 degrees and +1 percent respectively, which shows that averagely the temperature of the improved room is lower than that of the control room while the converse is the case for the relative humidity.

Integration of reverse engineering and non-linear numerical analysis for the seismic assessment of historical adobe buildings

Abstract This paper aims at presenting a methodology that integrates reverse engineering tools with a combination of advanced and simplified analytical methods to perform predictive analysis of the structural behavior of historical adobe buildings under seismic loads. This methodology proposes the joint use of terrestrial laser scanner and photogrammetry to obtain accurate geometrical models. The methodology also proposes the in-situ measurement of structural system properties through experimental modal tests. All the collected information is used to create representative Finite Element models which are then considered for performing predictive non-linear analyses and identifying the most probable collapse mechanisms. Limit analysis method is finally used to complement the analysis and to assess the structural performance of the adobe building under study considering different seismic scenarios. The methodology proposed in this paper is validated in the church of San Juan Bautista de Huaro, located in Cusco, Peru. This church was built in the 16th century and is known for its impressive mural paintings covering the entire indoor surface of the church. The results of the seismic assessment methodology proposed in this paper allowed to estimate the global behavior and possible damage patterns in the church during seismic events, showing that the most probable failure mechanisms would be the global rocking of the facade and the partial collapse of tympanum of the facade. The application of this methodology also allowed defining the performance levels of this church when facing different seismic scenarios. The results showed that the church should stay in a safe state until occasional earthquakes with a return period of 72 years. However, the results also indicate that rare earthquakes (return period of 475 years) will produce an unsafe structural condition with partial collapses of structural elements.

Automated long-term dynamic monitoring using hierarchical clustering and adaptive modal tracking: validation and applications

Historical buildings demand constant surveying because anthropogenic (e.g., use, pollution or traffic vibration) and natural or environmental hazards (e.g., environmental changes or earthquakes) can endanger their existence and safety. Particularly, in the Andean region of South America, earthen historical constructions require special attention and investigation due to the high seismic hazard of the area next to the Pacific coast. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) can provide useful, real-time information on the condition of these buildings. In SHM, the implementation of automatic tools for feature extraction of modal parameters is a crucial step. This paper proposes a methodology for the automatic identification of the structural modal parameters. An innovative and multi-stage approach for the automatic dynamic monitoring is presented. This approach uses the Data-Driven Stochastic Subspace Identification method complemented by hierarchical clustering for automatic detection of the modal parameters, as well as an adaptive modal tracking procedure for providing a clear visualization of long-term monitoring results. The proposed methodology is first validated in data acquired in an emblematic sixteenth century historical building: the monastery of Jeronimos in Portugal. After proving its efficiency, the algorithm is used to process almost 5000 events containing data acquired in the church of Andahuaylillas, a sixteenth century adobe building located in Cusco, Peru. The results in these cases demonstrate that accurate estimation of predominant modal parameters is possible in those complex structures even if relatively few sensors are installed.

A Survey on Seismic Reinforcement Systems of Adobe Buildings in Iran

A Survey on Seismic Reinforcement Systems of Adobe Buildings in Iran

A 3D approach to reconstitution of the adobe citadel of Bam after earthquake: a complementary interpretation of architectural heritage knowledge, aerial photogrammetry, and heterogeneous data

ABSTRACTPost-disaster recovery of heritage sites is a challenge, and a three-dimensional (3D) approach is a key to the site’s revival. This research has focused on 3D Computer Graphics (CG) reconstitution of the adobe Citadel of the city of Bam (part of World Heritage Sites) after the 2003 earthquake. The conventional 3D modeling methods have failed to reconstruct the Citadel due to few precise pre-earthquake surveys, complicated forms of adobe buildings and extensive site destruction. The research has proposed an innovative approach to enhance 3D cartography of Aerial Photogrammetry using heterogeneous data, such as photos before or after the earthquake, architectural drawings, videos, descriptive texts, etc. The highlight of the 3D reconstitution is to interpret historic adobe constructions and to understand the structure of vaults and loadbearing walls, the proportions, and geometry of space or the connection of interior and exterior facades. The Citadel is reconstituted by a wireframe CAD-based (Computer Aided Design) 3D drawing, and consequently by non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) surface modeling and is visualized by Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) applications. The results are distributed in a RDF-based (Resource Description Framework) website: Bam3DCG (https://www.bam3DCG.com).

Structural assessment and seismic vulnerability of earthen historic structures. Application of sophisticated numerical and simple analytical models

Adobe constructions account for a significant portion of the built heritage, associated with early building techniques, material accessibility and low-cost. Nonetheless, adobe buildings, due to their low mechanical properties and overturning resistance, are subject to early structural damage, such as cracking, separation of structural elements and, possibly, collapse in areas of high seismic hazard. The lack of maintenance and absence of adequate retrofitting techniques usually intensifies the loss of historic fabric. The current paper, aims at the structural assessment and seismic safety, in current conditions, of the Church of Kuño Tambo, a religious adobe structure of the 17th century, in Cusco region, in Peru. The inspection and diagnosis involved sonic testing and damage mapping, while ambient vibration tests revealed the modal response of the structure. The assessment of seismic vulnerability, together with the necessity of retrofitting measures were verified through nonlinear static and pushover parametric analyses, complemented with a macro-block limit analysis and a performance based assessment, under local seismic criteria. A more realistic response from dynamically induced ground motions was performed, by a nonlinear time history analysis, according to the Eurocode 8 framework. Through an integrated approach, in situ inspection, testing, numerical and analytical modelling are associated under the scope of reproducing the existing structural damage, the sequence of inelastic behavior and verification of the necessity of retrofitting measures.