Structural monitoring and investigation campaign in the Church of St. Giuseppe dei Minimi in L’Aquila, after the 6th of April 2009 earthquake

The oratory of St. Giuseppe dei Minimi in L’Aquila, Italy, sustained serious damage after the seismic events of April 2009. The earthquake caused out- of-plane overturning of the façade, with wide cracks on both lateral walls. Such rotation caused the “sinking” in the crack of one of the pillars of the belfry, which did not collapse, but remained in a very dangerous situation. After the initial stabilisation measures, carried out during the months following the seismic event, field investigations were carried out by the authors in spring- summer 2010, to guide the final strengthening intervention, supervised by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The investigation campaign involved intensive use of non and minor destructive techniques, such as thermography, radar, sonic tests, core sampling, single and double flat jack tests and chemical analysis on sampled materials. Moreover, the overall dynamic characteristics of the church were extracted from vibrations measured in the upper areas of the building, using output only techniques. Finally, a structural monitoring system was installed in the church (involving also the adjacent St. Biagio church), to monitor the damage progression and to evaluate the effectiveness of strengthening applications.