Building Techniques and Structural Damage of Historical Constructions Detected Through the Point Cloud Survey

Abstract

The study of historical constructions belonging to the cultural and architectural heritage is often challenging as, in most cases, it is very complex to reach a full understanding and description of them, due to the long-lasting history and the numerous modifications throughout the centuries. Many instruments today available allow gathering information on the current state of these buildings and contemporarily can provide some evidence on their history and constructive techniques. As a matter of fact, data taken from the modern technique of laser scanning, applied to architectural heritage, can provide important information not only on the present deformed configuration of each building, but also on the construction techniques related to its components, their geometries and possible structural problems. By juxtaposing the slices taken from the point cloud survey, indeed, the correspondences or the differences of the profiles might prove either the regularities or the incongruences characterizing each building. The present study will prove the significance of such an investigation technique with reference to the case study provided by Santa Fosca church on Torcello Island. This is a Venetian-Byzantine church, dated back to the 11th century, very peculiar both from the structural and architectural point of view and subject to numerous interventions throughout the centuries.