Methodology for Rapid Structural Vulnerability Assessment for Service Loads at the Territorial Scale

Abstract

Recent Italian collapses have revealed that hidden defects can be the cause of ruinous and apparently unpredictable failures. In this scenario the necessity of a structural vulnerability assessment at the territorial scale arises. Considering that the scale of the analysis is territorial, a multilevel approach seems to be the most effective and useful because it allows calibrating the available resources. In this article a methodology for rapid structural vulnerability assessment for service loads at the territorial scale is proposed. It is based only on the acquisition of poor data (i.e., construction year, structural typology, and building location) and it is part of a wider research project of the Politecnico di Bari whose main aim was to evaluate the critical aspects of the Italian school heritage. The proposed methodology, although of general validity, is specifically presented for schools. The applicability is demonstrated with reference to the province of Bari, Italy.