Alan Davis James Atkinson

Assessment of the Structural Integrity of the Roman Bridge of Alcántara (Spain) Using TLS and GPR

The Roman bridge of Alcantara is the largest in Spain. Its preservation is of the utmost importance and to this end different aspects must be studied. The most prominent is the assessment of its structure, and this is especially important as the bridge remains in use. This paper documents the way the assessment of structural safety was carried out. The assessment methodology of existing structures was applied. The preliminary assessment was based on bibliographic data and non-destructive techniques. The geometric data of the bridge were obtained by Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), which made possible the analysis of its deformations and assessment of its structure. Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) was also used with different antennae to work at different depths and spatial resolutions with the aim of analysing structural elements. From the above information, the assessment of structural safety was made using the limit analysis method by applying the historical works carried out on it and those described in the regulation of obligatory compliance in Spain (IAP11), studying the sensitivity of safety to the most relevant parameters. The state of preservation and structural integrity of the bridge is discussed and conclusions are drawn on the areas of greatest risk and the bases for the following assessment phase of preservation of the bridge.

Virtual Recreation of the Monroy Roman Villa (Extremadura - Spain)

Recreation by means of virtual network environments facilitates the study, analysis and dissemination of information about our cultural and historical heritage. In the Geomatic Engineering and Urban Heritage Research Group (IGPU) of the University of Extremadura, a virtual recreation of the excavated part of the Monroy Roman villa was made by the following process: (1) historical study and preliminary documentation to define the villa; (2) Collection of current information through a topographical survey of the villa grounds; (3) Generation in ArchiCAD of the volumes of the building; (4) Generation of textures in 3DStudio Max and Photoshop to define the buildings, the furniture and the surroundings of the villa; (5) Generation of a virtual tour video using Adobe Premiere and 3DStudio Max; and (6) Generation of a virtual visit controlled by the user, by means of panoramic flash images, using the software Tourweaver. In this way and with a relatively low cost, we have been able to generate an interactive virtual network environment for the study of the conditions of life in a Roman agricultural villa of the fourth century A.D.