Overview of structural health monitoring systems for the foundations of historic buildings

Structural monitoring represents one of the most important scientific and research sectors in the field of civil engineering. Using a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system, it is possible to reduce management costs, to operate in areas difficult to access and acquire data also during dangerous events such as landslides and earthquakes. Last researches have made available SHMs that operates in a noninvasive way, allowing the continuous monitoring without the need to suspend the use of the structure (for example in the case of an historical building, it is not necessary to install the measurement instruments for the periodic inspection suspending their normal activities and then creating loss of money, and it is not necessary to sample the structure itself). This paper presents an overview on the last researches on SHM systems in the field of civil engineering focused on the monitoring the foundations structures of the historical buildings, in order to stimulate the research in the field by highlighting the benefits obtained with their use.