In-situ investigations for structural assessment of Temple C in Selinunte (Italy)

Preservation of archaeological handmade is a very relevant task for structural en- gineers, which are often responsible for safety of ancient constructions and design of interventions aimed basically to mitigate structural damages, rather than strongly improve structural perform- ances of constructions, as for ordinary structures. Concept of mitigation of structural damages is only recently applied to structural restoration; in fact, many interventions made on archaeological constructions in the past were very invasive, operated directly on the structure changing its ap- pearance and original resistant mechanisms. Thus evaluation of present structural performances of ancient constructions is very complex and must be based on an accurate review of former in- terventions and an analysis of actual structural mechanisms governing the behaviour of the con- struction. In the present paper, this topic is discussed with reference to an amazing construction: the Temple C, placed in the Greek archaeological site of Selinunte, south-western Sicily, Italy.