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Mechatronics for Cultural Heritage and Civil Engineering pp 235–256Cite as

GIS-Based Study of Land Subsidence in the City of Bologna

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Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering ((ISCA,volume 92))

Abstract

Geographic information systems (GIS) are very powerful tools capable of performing spatial analyses over large amounts of the territory representing large amounts of data. They consist of hardware, software, and human activities that facilitate collection, analysis, and storage of data, in different forms, related to the features of the territory. In the present chapter, the potential of the GIS tool is explored in a study of the effects of subsidence that occurred during the previous decades in the city of Bologna, where a valuable historic and cultural heritage made up of an intricate system of old masonry buildings, churches and monuments, is exposed and at risk. Data from previous geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical studies was collected and georeferenced. Then, topographical investigations and periodic records of the groundwater level in the network wells were superposed to establish a relation between causes and effects. The analysis reveals the spatial and temporal distribution of settlements in the city center and in the surrounding area. The evolution of the subsidence phenomenon has been possible, and the use of GIS has revealed the role of different factors and their mutual correlation. By combining all information, it can be seen that the area is severely affected by the distribution of total and differential settlements and that a particularly critical situation emerges in the city center. Additionally, the causes of the phenomenon could be established with great precision, enabling the identification of appropriate countermeasures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Università di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Frosinone, Italy

    Rose Line Spacagna & Giuseppe Modoni

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  1. Rose Line Spacagna
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  2. Giuseppe Modoni
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Correspondence to Rose Line Spacagna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Frosinone, Italy

    Erika Ottaviano

  2. Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Frosinone, Italy

    Assunta Pelliccio

  3. Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Vincenzo Gattulli

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Spacagna, R.L., Modoni, G. (2018). GIS-Based Study of Land Subsidence in the City of Bologna. In: Ottaviano, E., Pelliccio, A., Gattulli, V. (eds) Mechatronics for Cultural Heritage and Civil Engineering. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering, vol 92. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68646-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68646-2_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68645-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68646-2

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