The fractures of the French Pantheon:: Survey and structural analysis

The French Pantheon has shown, both in ancient and recent times, several fractures in the stones of its masonry, which also caused the partial closure to the public visits in the latest decades because of the fall of stone fragments. The French Ministry of Culture and Communication commissioned a new study [Blasi C. Memoire sur la stabilite et les lezardes du Pantheon Francais, Ministere de la Culture et de la Communication - Service National des Travaux, Direction du Patrimoine, Paris, 2005] to identify the causes of the present disorders, whose results are presented in this paper. A multidisciplinary approach, with a balanced fusion of historical analysis, precision surveys, experimental inspections and numerical modelling, enabled to spot the damage mechanisms that have provoked the first disorders and the ones that are still active, giving hints on the possible solutions. The interest in these studies also arouses from the fact that the French Pantheon, designed in the XVIII century with slender structures and innovative techniques, can be considered as the first building for which tests on materials and "modern" structural calculations have been carried out in a systematic manner. The present studies can thus be seen as the prosecution of a structural inspection that started 250 years ago and is still ongoing. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.