Studying the “screpoli” in Brunelleschi’s Dome

60 years have passed since the first mechanical monitoring system has been installed on Brunelleschi’s dome, in order to control width variation of the main cracks of the structure and almost 25 years ago a further digital system, composed by around 160 instruments, has been installed on the same cracks.

These systems are still active nowadays date, if correctly interpreted, can clarify dome’s mechanical behavior and suggest the most suitable strategy for its stability.

Today was held the first day of the workshop in Florence, Italy at Opera Santa Maria del Fiore. Tomorrow, Friday, January 20, 2011, will be held the secondo day with panel discussion. 

The “screpoli” in Brunelleschi’s dome have aroused alarm about dome stability during centuries and its severe crack pattern, which started soon after its construction and strongly increased in time, has been object of different interpretation during centuries.

It is not known whether the strong earthquake of 1453 triggered the first crack in the dome; certainly, since that time the presence of cracks on Brunelleschi’s dome is documented and monitored by different primeval monitoring systems.

Thanks to historical documents, the dome’s main cracks evolution can be reliably determined, finding, after an initial rapid rise, an increasing of crack width equal to around 5,5 mm per century, confirmed by modern monitoring data.

Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore aims to gather together the scientific responsibles of world main structures which are controlled by monitoring systems, in order to compare the different scientific experiences and to share possible strategy for planning strenghtening and restoration interventions. In this occasion, the results of the last analysis carried out on monitoring data of Brunelleschi’s dome will be presented.

The final hope is to put back the dome of S. Maria del Fiore at the centre of international discussion on stability of great masonry domes, as it was in the past, starting from the great debate on its design and extraordinary construction in XV century, passing through the proposal of an encircling intervention, made by Viviani, Galileo’s pupil, at the end of XVII century, up to the studies of Rowland J. Mainstone and Jaques Heyman and the Commissions (with the work of Pier Luigi Nervi, Guglielmo De Angelis D’Ossat, Gaetano Miarelli Mariani, Salvatore Di Pasquale e Andrea Chiarugi) which finally have clarified, at the end of the last century, the dome’s constructive geometry and causes of its damage.

You may have more information about this issue connecting with Opera Santa Maria del Fiore website in the section Opamonitoring.