- 1School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales (nicoletta.bianchini@uwl.ac.uk)
- 2The Faringdon Research Centre for Non-Destructive Testing and Remote Sensing, University of West London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
- 3Technical Conservation Team, Building Conservation and Designed Landscape, Historic England, United Kingdom of Great Britain – England, Scotland, Wales
Water is the main agent of deterioration in traditional buildings, particularly those with deficient or absent roofing and rainwater management systems. These sites wholly or partially surviving as ruins punctuate and define the landscape and represent invaluable heritage assets at risk of deterioration [1, 2].
In this research, the authors focus on historic masonry ruined structures located in England. An extensive literature review is used to investigate deterioration mechanisms and the role of climate change [3, 4], identify recurrent causes and sources of water ingress, evaluate the role of vegetations as well as the role of different maintenance regimes and past interventions.
The project will also investigate the most appropriate non-destructive testing (NDT) methods able to monitor and develop easy and repeatable methods of water ingress assessment in historic masonry ruined structures [5, 6]. The study focuses on the use of popular (e.g., ultrasound, ground-penetrating radar (GPR)) and less conventional NDTs in this domain, understanding main capabilities and limitations. The methods can set competencies, recurrent locations along the structure, accessibility and principles to underpin investigation and treatment of water ingress in traditional buildings. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research in this area. It includes the implementation of the most advanced non-destructive testing techniques and the acquisition of additional data concerning the behaviour of masonry structures under varying environmental conditions.
Keywords: Historic Masonry Ruins, Roofless Structures, Non-destructive Testing (NDT), Water Ingress, Climate Change
Funding: This is part of a Historic England funded project with title: “Collapse of Masonry Walls in Historic Ruined Structures: Understanding the Underlying Causes and Warning Signs; Identifying Investigation Strategy and Preventive Conservation Measures”.
References
[1] Ramirez, Ghiassi, Pineda and Lourenço, “Moisture and Temperature Effects on Masonry Structures: The Civic Tower of Pavia as a Case Study,” Lect. Notes Civ. Eng.
[2] Sass, O. & Viles, H. Heritage hydrology: a conceptual framework for understanding water fluxes and storage in built and rock-hewn heritage, Heritage Sci.
[3] Tolley, “Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire, the repair of a major monument: an alternative approach.”
[4] Laycock and Wood, “Understanding and controlling the ingress of driven rain through exposed, solid wall masonry structures,” Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ.,
[5] Franzoni, Berk, Bassi and Marrone, “An integrated approach to the monitoring of rising damp in historic brick masonry,” Constr. Build. Mater.
[6] M.I. Martinez-Garrido, R. Fort, M. Gomez-Heras, J. Valles-Iriso, M.J. Varas-Muriel, “A comprehensive study for moisture control in cultural heritage using non-destructive techniques, J. Appl. Geophysics.
How to cite: Bianchini, N., Balodimou, E., Husamaldin, L., Saadati, P., Tessema, T., D'Alessandro, D., and Tosti, F.: Non-Destructive Testing Approaches to Assess Water Ingress in Historic Masonry Ruins in the Context of Climate Change, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-19747, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-19747, 2025.
