Historic Preservation - Science topic

This is a multi-factor problem. Good question, but the answer is not so simple

You'll have to model each (sub-region) individually for future effects of rainfall and temperature ranges but also look at wind patterns and storm events.

You will then need to look at the heritage stock and assess how the building fabric responds to the new (modelled) climatic realities. You can do so by looking at the performance and response to climatic events over the past 30 years . Look at the extreme events and possibly use them as new normal.

The next issue will be the state of the heritage assets and the funding that currently goes into maintenance, both private funding for private buildings and public monies for community-owned assets. What is the trend here? That trend can be forward projected.

You will then also need to take into account the projected impact of climate change on the economic capacity of the private citizens and of the local governments. That will vary from region to region, but will have an impact on the future capacity and willingness to pay for repairs.

When you have all of this in hand, you ned to develop a set of evaluation criteria with relative weighting , which then provide you with a numeric value of future risk that incorporates environmnetal and socio-economic factors.

Hello, Jan!!!

It is a great idea to be able to see these manuscripts on the web, not only to the few can visit the places were those collections are stored or displayed. But I believe if you have the images without transcripts of the texts and without information on the type os illustration, the diverse preparation of the parchment, about the calligraphic types and styles, and about the culture that made them they will just be exotic illustrations no body ill have the joy to understand. These manuscripts need explanation to help the viewer to appreciate them full. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (USA) offer many books on manuscripts, Indian carpets, Chinese drawings, etc. in beautifully-illustrated books, written by experts. Those books are free. You ca pick and choose. Here, two examples and the link to free art books at the MET.

Here is the link to the MET:

Here are some books by the MET and of their collections:

The best single document which discusses the various buffer zones for CH monuments, sites, parks, etc is the UNESCO World Heritage Report #25 (attached here). The importance of implementing various regional and local stakeholders can never be under-emphasized. The UNESCO report is good for examining the aspects of buffers, corridors, etc. These are often only suggestions and recommended policies, but at least you have international codified policies to utilize.

I hope this helps Catalina and good luck, TRP

One reason you get cracks at the corners of windows in an earthquake is because of the stress concentration effect.  If you replace old (deteriorated) masonry by new masonry then (everything else being equal) similar loads (another earthquake) are going to cause the structure to fail in the same place.

Hi Katrin, I'm afriad we haven't made any more progress with this. The model building process that is required for this to work is a very time consuming task. We're unlikely to make progress with this any time soon unless we have a student you ahs time to input all the required info.

Thank you for both suggestions. I have contacted Grand Canyon museum collection and the Nat. Reg. nomination forms as well.

I am a conservation scientist and I deal a lot with the assessment of materials for use in conservation projects - determining the suitability/compatibility of different materials/products for use on historic (largely stone) masonry buildings/structures. Although I appreciate that financial constraints play a role in the decision-making process, I don't feel that this aspect should feature to any great degree in my work. I personally believe that technical compatibility and suitability of repair materials should be the driving force behind decisions, followed by an assessment of what is financially viable, i.e. a material shouldn't be selected based primarily on price but on its suitability. Incompatible materials (even if cheap) are often a false economy as their reduced lifespan will result in the requirement of repeat application/intervention, which in the long run may be more financially draining. A good example of this is the 'plastic' repair of stone - repair materials are often cheaper than replacing with natural stone. However, their lifespan is significantly shorter.

In saying that, I have sympathy for the people at the other end that are so constrained by finances, forced to compromise, and perhaps unable to make the best decisions as a result.

Wont UV-Light and bleach (Chlorox) let the colors fade?

Fumigation sounds like a good idea, but you will have to make sure that the painting is stored under right conditions afterwards (above all try to avoid high humidity, because fungi need it).