Some data about rising damp from 30 years of analysis in Venetian buildings

Venice, famous for its urban peculiarity, artistic and architectural heritage, is one of the richest cities in marble and stones, which have been used over the centuries both as building materials and as decoration. But this city suffers from a serious flooding problem, called “acqua alta”, which has given rise to its fragility since ancient times, causing many damages to buildings and individual constructive materials. The causes of material degradation are various, but the main problem is rising damp. An analysis of the rising damp behavior in masonry is proposed, basing on previous studies on Venetian buildings, considering both the construction period and the location. Results have been collected from partially destructive and non-destructive tests carried out on the walls of the building to determine the moisture content at different heights and depths. The purpose is to understand whether there is a general behavior of the results obtained in the wall structure of the buildings, correlated by high water, material and/or exposure, or, if these outputs are specific of each individual building. The salt water exfoliates the brick and plaster, and the water rises up until 2.5-3 meters, with serious problems from thermal, mechanical and indoor comfort point of view. The final goal is to propose targeted remedial action to limit losses from rising damp by supplying a basic knowledge of the moisture process related to external conditions (environment) and intrinsic parameters (materials and their composition).