All the traces of historic heritage are a fundamental part of our environment and reward us in the form of cultural enrichment, with the ability to have a positive effect both on our lifestyle and economy. Therefore, the preservation of ancient monuments, historic towns and sites has increasingly drawn the attention of public opinion, governmental agencies as well as consultants and contractors. This interest must be however carefully controlled and directed, since the conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems of our age. Careless attempts at...

Conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves various cultural, humanistic, social, technical, economical and administrative factors, intertwining in inextricable patterns. The complexity of the topic is such that guidelines or recommendations for intervention techniques and design approaches are difficult to set.

The Technical Committee on the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites (named TC19) was established by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) in 1981,...