Radar investigation as a complementary tool for the diagnosis of historic masonry buildings

Preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings can be successfully accomplished only if the diagnosis of the state of damage of the construction has been carefully carried out. Among the investigation techniques and procedures which have been proposed in these last years, georadar seems from one hand to be the most promising, from the other to need a great deal more of study and research. Some typical problems solved by the authors with the use of GPR and a combination of other techniques; the research was carried out on several historic buildings. The paper also presents the most recent advancements of the GPR technology and their impact on the effectiveness of masonry investigations. In the meantime, the authors will also show the limits of the GPR in some applications. The aim of this contribution is also to help in giving guidelines for the choice of an appropriate use of GPR tools in the solution of various problems.