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STATIC CONTROL OF PALAZZO DELLA RAGIONE IN PADUA 
Alberto Giussani - Politecnico di Milano - Facoltà di Ingegneria di Lecco - 
Dipartimento di I.I.A.R. sezione Rilevamento 
Corso Matteotti, 3 - 23900 LECCO (ITALY) 
e.mail: alberto.giussani@polimi.it 
Giorgio Vassena - Università degli Studi di Brescia, Dip. di Ingegneria Civile 
v. Branze 38, 25123 BRESCIA (ITALY) 
e.mail: vassena@bsing.ing.unibs.it 
ISPRS - WG VI/3 
KEY WORDS: static control, building monitoring 
ABSTRACT 
In these years a large number of structures and historical buildings have been subjected to static continuous 
monitoring. The technology is having a quick development also in these applications following the 
development in industrial automation. The control of the “Palazzo della Ragione” in Padua is a valid example 
of the use of both automatic with sensors and topographic approaches. 
1. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 
The “Palazzo della Ragione” in Padua is well 
known as one of the most remarkable European 
buildings built in the XIII century. In fact the 
construction began in the year 1218. Since its 
foundation the palace has been the center of the 
commercial, civil and giustice life of Padua until 
the year 1797. Between the years 1306 and 1308 
Giovanni degli Emeritani transformed the big three 
original halls, in a big hall 82 meters long and 27 
meters large, creating the big cover having the 
shape of an upside-down ship. Unfortunately a big 
fire destroyed the palace and its original paintings 
in 1420. 
2. AN UP TO DATE APPROACH TO 
RESTORATION 
The static control of the palace is to be considered 
as a part of the general program of restauraron of 
the Palazzo della Ragione and is charaterized by 
two main needs: the first one is the study of the 
behaviour of the structure under the effects of 
external parameters as air temperature, 
subsidence, the second one voted mainly to 
analise safety problems. 
The first need birth from the absolute lack of data 
about the behaviour of the movements and the 
deformations that for sure are active in the 
monumental structure. In fact the effects of these 
deformations are clearly visible both locally as 
fessures in the walls, detaching of materials, 
disalignments, and globally with the clear opening 
of the longitudinal walls of the big hall. The 
knowledge of the movements driven in the 
structure by external causes are nowdays 
considered as an essential datum, as the 
geometric shape of the building, the chemical and 
phisycal characteristics of the wall and foudation 
materials, for the definition of any modern 
restauration and conservation program. 
The growing of these basic knowledge of the 
structure help the task of the restoration works, 
because makes also more impartial the 
interpretation of the degradation phenomena dei 
fenomeni di degrado and makes always more 
appropiate and documentable every program of 
restauration work. 
Not only the world composed by the restoration- 
technichant agree with the need of a scientific 
approach to the planning of all the restauration 
and conservation works. These is particulary 
evident looking at the last years papers having as 
main topic the more ancient buildings. 
Therefore following the best approach to a 
restoration work, the static control needs to know 
the behaviour of the structure both before and 
during the conservation works. In particular the 
link between the reactions of the structure to the 
temperatures changes, to the different values of 
sinking of the foundations, the solicitations of the 
structure due to the snow and to the wind and to