Refurbishment of Historic Buildings in Kotor after Montenegro Earthquake 1979

The configuration of the structure, as well as type and quality of materials and elements are often not appreciated by engineers and architects dealing with renewal of historic buildings in the old urban nuclei and rural settlements. It is very important to realize that all historic buildings are not weak simply because they are old and made out of stone or other masonry. Rather, some historic buildings, like some modern buildings, are weak because they were poorly and unskilfully built, because they were inadequately altered during their history, or because they were bad maintained. Many other historic buildings are strong due to good materials that were used, the quality of workmanship, design and structural forms. Successful seismic strengthening and repair of historic buildings should be based on an evaluation of seismic resistance of their original structure, deliberate addition of modern structural elements, and careful choice of strengthening techniques. In the paper, aspects of traditional seismic structural and building issues and strengthening methods of historic masonry buildings are discussed, focusing on Kotor, World Heritage Site, Montenegro. The principal seismic properties of traditional historic structures are presented based on their behaviour observed during the 1979 and previous earthquakes. Strengthening methods and techniques used in the process of refurbishment after the earthquake are presented. Recommendations for improving the evaluation procedures and choosing appropriate strengthening techniques for historic structures are made.