Experimental assessment of historic building safety: the case of the Isso Tower in Castelleone, Italy

In order to assess the structural condition of the Isso Tower in Castelleone, an extensive investigation was carried out on-site by using non-destructive and minor destructive techniques together with laboratory tests and analytical calculations. The most relevant feature of this tower, as of other medieval towers is the presence pf an external leaf used as a cladding of the bearing wall. The possible detachment of this leaf had to be carefully surveyed for safety reasons. In fact, a lightning during a storm in 19th century produced serious damages along a corner; other parts of the cladding were lost for unknown reasons. Therefore, if other detachments are present instability phenomena could cause in long-term, the failure of the detached cladding leaf.