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, reported serious damage after the seismic events of April 2009. The earthquake induced the 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, experimental activities were carried out by the authors in spring-summer 2010, to foster the final strengthening intervention, supervised by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The investigation campaign involved a wide use of non and minor destructive techniques, such as thermography, radar, sonic tests, core drilling tests, single and double flat jack tests and chemical analysis on sampled materials. Moreover, the overall dynamic characteristics of the church were detected by using output only techniques, measuring the vibrations in the upper areas of the building. Finally, a structural monitoring system was installed in the church (involving also the adjacent St. Biagio church), in order to control the damage progression or stability with reference to the already carried out stabilisation interventions, also giving the possibility of evaluating the effectiveness of the used strengthening techniques.