PSI - Issue 64

Leonardo Paris et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 2222–2229 Leonardo Paris, Maria Laura Rossi / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000 – 000

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1. Introduction Technological innovation in the survey of architecture and civil engineering today allows us to optimize those processes of knowledge of artefacts of particular shape, location and historical-monumental characteristics which at the end of the last century were often difficult to implement or, when possible, with excessive effort and cost. As regards the first aspect, that of technological innovation in surveying, on the one hand there has been an exponential growth in the ability to acquire metric and geometric information through the integrated use of 3D shape acquisition technologies such as the terrestrial laser scanner, the mobile scanner with Slam technology, photogrammetry with aerial shots from drones, on the other the development of parametric, generative and informed 3D modeling systems capable of promoting processes of knowledge, protection and valorisation of assets through multidisciplinary cultural exchange. An area of particular interest in which to test the effectiveness of the technological innovation of digital modeling is that of the ancient bridges of particular historical and monumental value that dot our territory, both Italian and European. For the majority of cases these are bridges in a state of ruin that have lost their primary function but there are still numerous perfectly functioning structures in which the original geometric and structural conformation is still tangible. Ancient bridges are the tangible representation of a fascinating relationship between the environmental context, often impervious, and the anthropic forces aimed at solving, thanks to technology, problems of land management and exploitation. Although in many cases the environmental context appears strongly transformed, this delicate relationship, this tension between contrasting forces, is still perceptible today, especially in those cases in which no changes have occurred in the main construction elements. The archaeological value of the remains of an ancient bridge is accentuated by some specificities which concern first of all the technical construction aspects linked to the evolution of the construction technique of large infrastructures but also evaluations linked to orographic aspects which influenced their location, construction and phases of use. To these aspects is added another non-secondary element for which these artefacts are today considered true works of art which can therefore be fully classified as cultural assets evidently endowed with a material component but also with an intangible value as testimony history of the evolution of a culture. of the technology on which scientific thinking is based. This contribution is the result of a series of studies and experiments conducted by some researchers from the La Sapienza University of Rome with the aim of providing a methodological framework for the creation of a multidisciplinary and multi-scalar information platform shared by the entire scientific community and, at different degrees of in-depth analysis, by the local communities of reference (Inglese & Paris, 2020) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Data base for a QGIS project about the environmental national model on the ancient bridges. (on the left) Preservation state; (on the right) Detail of the Tiberina Isle in Rome where are four roman ancient bridges.