Numerical analysis of a church in Venice for the study of the influence of timber piling degradation in the foundations on the structure in elevation

In this paper, a study of the mutual behaviour between the timber deterioration of classic Venetian foundation and the structure in elevation is presented. The classic foundations in Venice are characterized by timber piling embedded at a small distance among them with a soft mixture of silt, clay and fine sand. The historical buildings of Venice founded over these types of foundation are influenced by the ground settlements imposed by the degradation of timber piling, depending also on the type of soil and the distance between the piles. For the purpose of this investigation the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Venice was taken into consideration, through the implementation of numerical models. A number of FE models of the structure – foundation system were calibrated based on the long-term behaviour of the timber piles since construction, combined with different soil stratigraphy.