Seismic vulnerability assessment and retrofitting of a cultural heritage building in Cento, Ferrara, Italy

In this paper the usability check and the seismic vulnerability appraisement of a masonry building with cultural and artistic value located in the Municipality of Cento, Ferrara, Italy after the last Italian seismic event (Emilia-Romagna, 2012 May 20th-29th), are reported and discussed. After presenting some details of these earthquakes, a case study is presented and useful information on both the historical and geometrical properties have been given. Later, the usability check of the cultural heritage building examined has been completed with the identification of damage that occurred under earthquake. Finally, the seismic vulnerability assessment of the building on the basis of the simplified LV1 approach given by the Italian Guidelines on Cultural Heritage has been performed. The analysis results have shown that building has an average vulnerability degree, so as to require local repair and strengthening intervention, which have been presented in the paper. © Civil-Comp Press, 2014.