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Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 17943

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Dr. Simone Mineo

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Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, 95129 Catania, CT, Italy
Interests: landslide; rock mechanics; rock mass; monitoring; field survey; remote survey; Infrared thermography; UAV photogrammetry; rockfall risk assessment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to present a Special Issue focused on the natural threats affecting our cultural heritage. This, as a part of human history, represents a treasure deserving protection and careful management to ensure its transfer to the future generations. Both movable and immovable goods are often cultural tourism destinations, and their safe fruition is a priority for local administrators. Heritage sites are exposed to the impacts of natural and human-triggered catastrophic events, which threaten their integrity and may compromise their value. With specific reference to territories hosting examples of cultural heritage, in terms of monuments, religious/tourist sites or entire towns, the main risk factors include a wide spectrum of hazards, from geological to climatic. In this view, the aim of this Special Issue is to collect scientific studies on the investigation of either potential or occurred natural events and related implication on the sustainable fruition of the sites. Landslides, earthquakes, ground movements, avalanches, cyclones, storms, weathering, erosion, and volcanic activity are only some of the natural threats to cultural and historical locations or monuments and deserve in depth-studies for the characterization of the problem, prevention of a disaster, and risk management for a sustainable fruition.

In this Special Issue, technical studies, even carried out through innovative methodologies, are welcomed. Examples of main focuses are the definition of models, forecasts, monitoring, hazard, and risk assessment procedures, as well as multidisciplinary approaches for the characterization of the problem and proposal for mitigation measures. Case studies, hosting scientifically interesting data and procedures, contextualized in the international state of the art, are appreciated as well.

Dr. Simone Mineo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Cultural heritage
Risk
Fruition
Natural disaster
Disaster management
Monitoring
Historical site

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 192 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition

by Simone Mineo

Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2318; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032318 - 27 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 895

Abstract

The Special Issue entitled “Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition” is primarily focused on the natural threats affecting cultural heritage [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 3657 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rockfall Threatening Cumae Archeological Site Fruition (Phlegraean Fields Park—Naples)

by Rita De Stefano, Leopoldo Repola, Luigi Guerriero, Domenico Iovane, Vincenzo Morra, Fabio Pagano and Diego Di Martire

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1390; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031390 - 29 Jan 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1956

Abstract

Natural hazards threaten many archaeological sites in the world; therefore, susceptibility analysis is essential to reduce their impacts and support site fruition by visitors. In this paper, rockfall susceptibility analysis of the western slope of the Cumae Mount in the Cumae Archaeological Site (Phlegraean Fields, Naples), already affected by rockfall events, is described as support to a management plan for fruition and site conservation. Being the first Greek settlement in southern Italy, the site has great historical importance and offers unique historical elements such as the Cumaean Sibyl’s Cave. The analysis began with a 3D modeling of the slope through digital terrestrial photogrammetry, which forms a basis for a geomechanical analysis. Digital discontinuity measurements and cluster analysis provide data for kinematic analysis, which pointed out the planar, wedge and toppling failure potential. Subsequently, a propagation-based susceptibility analysis was completed into a GIS environment: it shows that most of the western sector of the site is susceptible to rockfall, including the access course, a segment of the Cumana Railroad and its local station. The work highlights the need for specific mitigation measures to increase visitor safety and the efficacy of filed-based digital reconstruction to support susceptibility analysis in rockfall prone areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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16 pages, 8281 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geomechanical Characterization of a Rock Cliff Hosting a Cultural Heritage through Ground and UAV Rock Mass Surveys for Its Sustainable Fruition

by Simone Mineo, Giovanna Pappalardo and Salvatore Onorato

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 924; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020924 - 18 Jan 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 1889

Abstract

In mountainous areas around the world, dealing with rockfalls means facing some technical survey difficulties due to the low accessibility of areas and the height of slopes. If a cultural heritage is also threatened by such mass movement, the need of specific survey solutions, even in a combined asset, is required. This paper deals with the integration of ground and UAV rock mass surveys aimed at defining the rockfall attitude of an unstable rock cliff sector hosting an example of cultural heritage in tourist area of southern Italy, whose fruition has already been threatened by the occurrence of rockfalls. As an example of the defensive architecture of XII and XIII centuries, the Saracen Castle in Taormina is reached by hundreds of visitors each year, but its access path and the surrounding area are threatened by the unstable condition of the cliff, hosting unstable rock volumes on kinematically critical planes. In order to achieve a reliable geostructural setting of the cliff, aiming at its possible securing through proper mitigation works, ground rock mass surveys could not provide enough information due to the bad accessibility of the rock faces. Therefore, a survey by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, with a reliable verified accuracy, was carried out to map the discontinuity planes especially occurring at the highest portions of the cliff, achieving geostructural data of different fronts of the cliff. Ground and aerial data were combined and statistically analyzed to define the main kinematic failure patterns. In this perspective, a critical comparison between the two employed surveying methodologies is proposed herein, highlighting that both approaches are affected by potential and limitations and that the integration of the mutual dataset represents a suitable solution for a complete rock mass characterization in this type of areas. Furthermore, rockfall simulations allowed ascertaining that potential falling blocks would cross the access path to the castle, thus representing a natural threat to the fruition of cultural heritage, thus proving the need of mitigation measures to ensure the safe fruition of the cultural heritage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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24 pages, 2525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Integration of Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Management into Urban Planning Tools. The Ravenna Case Study

by Angela Rosa, Angela Santangelo and Simona Tondelli

Sustainability 2021, 13(2), 872; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020872 - 16 Jan 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4215

Abstract

As increasingly recognized by scholars, climate change is posing new challenges in the field of disaster risk management and urban planning. Even though cultural heritage has passed through decades and centuries, it has never experienced such unexpected and variable events as those forecasted by climate change for the foreseeable future, making it a sensitive element of the living environment. By selecting the city of Ravenna and the cultural heritage site of the Santa Croce Church and archaeological area as a case study, the paper aims at providing an insight into the role that urban planning tools have when it comes to improving the resilience of historical areas, coping with climate change through improvements to the disaster risk management of cultural heritage. Starting from a deep analysis of the existing spatial and urban planning tools that operate at different scales on the Ravenna territory, the adaptive capacity of the historical area toward the identified risks was assessed. The results may lead, on the one hand, to improving the integration of cultural heritage risk management into urban planning tools; on the other hand, they contribute to improving the scope and the governance of the heritage management plans in order to cope with climate change risks and their effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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22 pages, 10216 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Application of Bioengineering Techniques as Geo-Hydrological Risk Mitigation Measures in a Highly Valuable Cultural Landscape: Experiences from the Cinque Terre National Park (Italy)

by Giacomo Pepe, Elena Baudinelli, Matteo Zanini, Domenico Calcaterra, Andrea Cevasco, Patrizio Scarpellini and Marco Firpo

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8653; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208653 - 19 Oct 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2958

Abstract

In this work, experiences from the use of bioengineering techniques as geo-hydrological risk mitigation measures within the territory of Cinque Terre National Park (Eastern Liguria, Italy) after an extreme rainfall event that occurred on 25 October 2011 are described. This rainstorm was responsible for intense erosive processes and triggered numerous shallow landslides, causing severe structural and economic damage. After this disastrous event, many bioengineering interventions were planned to stabilize the most unstable slopes and the most problematic streams. Based on multidisciplinary studies and field surveys, an inventory of the executed bioengineering works was compiled. Subsequently, on the basis of expert judgement, both the efficiency and effectiveness of the works three years after their construction were examined. Furthermore, the compliance of the executed works with the design requirements was analysed. This study revealed that some of the investigated works lack post-intervention maintenance and require the adoption of remedial measures aimed at improving the biotechnical functions of live materials, which are often ineffective. This case study highlights the importance of technical aspects that should be considered during the design phase of bioengineering works, especially when implemented within protected areas. Specifically, it would be greatly helpful to define instructions for post-intervention maintenance and monitoring and to perform vegetational studies. Considering the great cultural and natural heritage of the study area, the obtained results are expected to provide useful information for the definition of guidelines for the best practices to be adopted when future bioengineering works are planned for geo-hydrological risk management purposes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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14 pages, 15736 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Influence of Water–Rock Interaction on the Stability of Schist Slope

by Qian-Cheng Sun, Can Wei, Xi-Man Sha, Bing-Hao Zhou, Guo-Dong Zhang, Zhi-Hua Xu and Ling Cao

Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 7141; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177141 - 01 Sep 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2400

Abstract

(1) The studies on the influence of rainfall on slope stability mainly focus on rainfall characteristics and the variation of strength parameters. Few studies pay attention to the micro structure changes of rock mass under long-term rainfall conditions, and the influence of failure mode. (2) Based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron microscopic imaging (Emmi) technology, the micro structure changes and macro deformation characteristics of the schist, under long-term immersion in different liquids are analyzed. (3) After soaking in the deionized water, the uniaxial compression strength of the intact specimen is slightly lower than that of the untreated specimens, but the test process in the elastic compression stage is considerably prolonged, and the failure modes show both shear and slip at the same time. While after soaking in acid solution, the fracture of rock samples with initial cracks can be obviously reduced and healed, which is consistent with the change of micro pore structure. The uniaxial strength and modulus of the intact samples are significantly lower, and only slip failure mode occurred. (4) It shows that water–rock interaction is an important factor influencing the stability of slope besides the external rainfall force, which affects the structural characteristics and mechanical properties of rock. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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18 pages, 9174 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flood Susceptibility and Sediment Transport Analysis of Stromboli Island after the 3 July 2019 Paroxysmal Explosion

by Omar S. Areu-Rangel, Rosanna Bonasia, Federico Di Traglia, Matteo Del Soldato and Nicola Casagli

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3268; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083268 - 17 Apr 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2913

Abstract

On 3 July 2019, Stromboli volcanic island experienced a paroxysmal explosion that triggered wildfires on vegetated areas in the south, southwestern, and eastern part of the island. This study analyzes the runoff and the transport of sediment originating from rainfall, to verify whether the vegetation loss due to wildfire changed the hydrogeological structure of the affected area and the flooding hazard. A preliminary hydrological study was conducted to analyze the superficial runoff due to rainfall. According to local planning, the hydrogeological study and flood risk assessment were carried out for the return periods corresponding to 50, 100, and 300 years. The flooding levels were calculated using the hydrodynamic module of the IBER software. The IBER sediment transport module was applied in a non-stationary regime for erosion and sedimentation analysis. The results showed that the fire caused an increase of the water discharge rates between 0.06 and 0.16 m²/s, for the 50 year return period, in the Ginostra inhabited area. The great differences of the flood levels between pre- and post-eruptive scenarios, for the highest return periods, were recognized. The analysis of sediment transport showed that rains could exert an erosion and re-sedimentation effect that would transport from 0.1 m to more than 1 m of re-mobilized material in the Ginostra area, which could cause inconvenience in the inhabited area of the island. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition)

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