Review of the Methods for Strengthening and Retrofitting Cultural Heritage Structures

Abstract

The history of each country is the identity of its people, and the preservation of originality and culture is considered a social value. Moreover, the maintenance of valuable buildings that reflect the path to the growth of human civilization is of particular importance. To achieve various goals, including the development of the tourism industry, each country tries to prevent the destruction of historic buildings, or to resuscitate them by applying various methods of restoration and retrofitting. Iran being an ancient civilization has many valuable historical buildings. Traditional construction materials included masonry materials such as clay and mud, stone, wood, and brick. Because of the weakness in physical structure and a lack of allowable shear and tension strength, those heritage structures are susceptible to strong forces such as earthquakes. Studies on historical sites and heritage complexes in Iran, indicate no fundamental work has been done in this regard, and practically measures have been taken without any improvement in the structural performance of the buildings. To minimize the damage on historical buildings to the least possible extent, the seismic behavior of such buildings against the seismic forces could be enhanced through special strengthening techniques. This paper is the result of the desk research using descriptive-analytic method, which includes classifying the main elements of historical building’s structure, their possible weaknesses, and a review of reinforcement and restoration resolve methods for each structure.