p22

Dismantling and old rail track: opportunities in the Tua Valley

Paulo B. Lourenço (ISISE, University of Minho)

SLIDES (pdf)

Abstract:

The Tua rail track is a notorious technical achievement for the Portuguese engineering due to the harsh landscape, particularly between S. Mamede do Tua and S. Lourenço (the parts of rail track to be dismantled). Besides gathering information about the construction and the technical achievements, the present project also aims at: (a) using the built heritage to obtain information about old building techniques and possibilities for strengthening, by testing on site selected buildings; (b) demonstration of the technical achievements for the general public, by developing exhibition materials at the Memory Nucleus.

In the presentation, the built infrastructure will be presented (part to be submerged, part to be demolished and part to remain), together with the test set-ups and planned tests. For the development of a technical exhibition, a survey of the bridges of the Tua Valley will be presented, together with possible displays and hands-on experiences.

Short cv:

Paulo Lourenço, professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal and Head of the Institute in Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering. He is experienced in the fields of NDT, advanced experimental and numerical techniques, innovative strengthening techniques and earthquake engineering. He is specialist in structural restoration, with consultancy in several World Heritage sites, such as Cathedral of Porto, Monastery of Jeronimos (Lisbon), Castle of Guimaraes or Qutb Minar (New Delhi). He has worked in more than 50 monuments in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Cyprus, Iran, India and Morocco. He is Editor of the "International Journal of Architectural Heritage: Conservation, Analysis and Restoration", Editor of the Conference Series "Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions" and Coordinator of the European Erasmus Mundus Master Course on "Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historical Constructions". Supervisor of 40 PhD students (24 concluded) and coordinator of several national and international research projects. He is author or co-author of more than 600 technical and scientific publications in the fields of masonry, timber and concrete structures.