In response to a devastating earthquake in Central Italy in October 2016, the Frost engineering team members partnered with the University of Notre Dame and Italian universities to help develop a holistic seismic risk assessment methodology to apply across regional and national portfolios. The Santa Maria Maggiore evaluation was part of this larger project and included structural assessment, analysis, and photogrammetric modeling of this church.

The unreinforced masonry building was originally constructed in the 13th century and composed of square-cut stones and lime-based mortar. Using non-destructive testing techniques, each component of the church (e.g., the facade, apse, vaults, lateral walls, etc.) was assessed singularly. The structure of the church was globally modeled and analyzed to capture potential deficiencies and criticality.

Using non-destructive testing techniques, each component of the church (e.g., the facade, apse, vaults, lateral walls, etc.) was assessed singularly.

The work our team members carried out has since been published in three different peer-reviewed journals, which can be found here, here, and here.