Long-term behaviour of towers & fabric structures. The bell tower of Monza cathedral

After the collapse of some heavy buildings and towers in Italy and elsewhere, the hypothesis of possible continuous damage to these structures due to the dead and cyclic loads (wind, temperature variations, etc.) has been formulated by the authors. The long term behaviour of historic masonry has also been detected by laboratory creep and cyclic tests. The results indicate that a laboratory and on site investigation together with analytical modelling are important peculiarly for tall bell-towers. The application of these procedures on the Bell-Tower of the Cathedral of Monza is here reported and discussed.