Integrated methodologies for the 3D survey and the structural monitoring of industrial archaeology: the case of the Casalecchio di Reno dyke, Italy

The concept of “Industrial Archaeology” was introduced in the 1950s in England in order to consider the branch of Archaeology that, in integration with engineering, architecture and economics, studies the industrial past, with the purpose of document, protect and exploite the industrial-cultural heritage. The systematic study of this kind of structures and artefacts need a wide range approach, that starts from the investigation about the object historic fonts until its complete qualitative and quantitative description, also considering the characteristics of the surrounding territory. This task often needs the integration of different survey techniques for data capturing and processing, in order to perform the 3D modeling and to analize the structural deformations of manufactured articles. The paper presents some of the surveying and monitoring activities recently carried out on the important structure of the Casalecchio di Reno dyke, near Bologna, integrating different techniques from Geomatics Engineering. The overall activity has been performed in the framework of an important consolidation and restoration work realized after severe problems suffered by the structure after the 2008-2009 winter season.