On site diagnostic investigations for the assessment of the Casa del Tramezzo di Legno, in Herculaneum

Ongoing research activities for the assessment of masonry cultural heritage are carried out in the Roman archaeological site of Herculaneum. The House of the Wooden Partition is a representative case for a feasibility study of the application of an interdisciplinary diagnostic procedure leading to the assessment of Roman archaeological stone masonry. Such archaeological structures present all vulnerability forms of masonry heritage but in amplified form due to damage occurred at historic time and during archaeological excavation. At the same time, these constructions benefit from a higher nominal protection, imposing a more conservative diagnostic approach. A consequence is that, while NDT must assume a wider role in the diagnosis, often the coupling of these techniques with others of destructive type for the purpose of calibrating the NDT outcome, is not allowed. Thus it is here proposed the combination of different NDT techniques with the purpose of cross-checking their results. Sonics, impact-echo, GPR and thermography have been applied on site to investigate morphologic construction details and width of past restoration interventions. Example results are presented and the contribution of their outcome to the evaluation of archaeological masonry structures is discussed. The aim is to highlight the remarkable advantages of this integrated diagnostic approach in the field of cultural heritage and, in particular, for archaeological constructions.