A study of the response of monumental and historical structures to tunnelling

This paper presents the main results of a study of the interaction between tunnel construction and monumental structures at surface. The assessment of the potential damage induced by tunnelling was approached following stages of increasing complexity, from simple and well established semi-empirical methods up to two-and three-dimensional numerical soil-structure interaction analyses. A significant joint effort of archeologists and geotechnical and structural engineers was required to define reliable models of the monuments and the subsoil. The approach adopted in the study is described in this paper with reference to the area of the Basilica of Massenzio, a Roman monument of outstanding value. The results of the study confirm that, in comparison with greenfield and simplified two-dimensional interaction analyses, a less severe evaluation of potential damage is obtained when the three-dimensional effects of geometry and stiffness of the structure and the soil are taken into account in the modeling. © 2006 Taylor & Francis Group.