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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The procedures described so far are mostly automatic or semi-automatic; these are therefore elaborations in which the merits of the object of study in cognitive terms have not yet been fully explored. The task of those who deal with survey and representation is therefore not only to produce "digital casts" but also to develop models capable of making evident those peculiar aspects of the object of study which, as mentioned, presents numerous components of archaeological, constructive interest, technological, structural engineering, relationship with the urban and environmental context. It is good to remember that the main objective in architectural or archaeological survey is the search for the so-called "geometric model", made of points, lines, surfaces, which is the foundation of any artefact (Paris, 2015). The representation of the geometric model in its synthetic mode allows us to investigate the complexity of reality and obtain useful information for effective knowledge of the artefact (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2. Structural analysis of the components of the Emilio Bridge (as known as Broken Bridge). Perspective views of the digital model.

We therefore wanted to encourage in the various case studies the identification of the possible formal matrices which were the basis of the project and which today allow us to understand, also through comparison, the intrinsic elements in the artefact (Giuliani Cairoli, 1997; Campanella, 1928; Giovannoni, 1969; Lugli 1957). This was also done in order to experiment with new forms of representation through the development of three-dimensional mathematical models. The processing of 3D graphic and digital models inevitably involved a selection and interpretation of the digital data acquired, thus underlining the fact that the survey, although starting from data acquired through very reliable and therefore quite objective advanced digital tools, is realized through models that are the product of a synthesis made and therefore conditioned by choices that are made gradually. 3. Heritage Civil Structures Building Information Modeling (HCSBIM) In addition to the application of procedures for the acquisition and processing of three-dimensional models consolidated in recent years but which, as demonstrated, always require adjustments and refinements in relation to the specificities of the study topic, we also wanted to experiment (in particular in the case of the Bridge of Augusto in Narni and the Ponte Fabricio in Rome) the potential of BIM (Building Information Modeling) processes applied to Cultural Heritage ‒ in this case we are talking about HBIM (Heritage BIM) ‒. Although research is evolving very rapidly, the process and the related BIM modeling applied to archaeological assets still presents some operational problems. Current models, in fact, do not allow us to effectively and exhaustively relate all the components that characterize the study of an ancient bridge both in terms of geometric, functional, semantic and informative representation. The information component in particular, being archaeological case studies, is the basis of a whole series of studies and cognitive investigations aimed at reconstructing the evolutionary history of the artefact and of which the model must be the bearer (Marsic et al, 2000). The HBIM model of ancient bridges is not only a descriptive geometric representation of the state of the places, but the exemplification of the last construction phase in a digital environment that develops - also - in 4D (time factor).