10th Italian National Congress on Earthquake Engineering, Potenza - Matera (Italy)

September 9-13, 2001

The Italian National Congress on Earthquake Engineering, organised by the Italian National Association of Earthquake Engineering (ANIDIS) and the University of Basilicata, was held in Potenza and Matera, on September 9 to 13, 2001. It is about twenty years that the Italian Congress is held every two years, involving all the Italian researchers in the field of Earthquake Engineering.

The main scope of the Congress was to develop the scientific debate and present the most recent findings on different seismic problems. Also the most practical problems related to seismic design, vulnerability assessment, retrofitting strategies and techniques, urban planning and seismic codes have been dealt with.

The two main cities of Basilicata, in Southern Italy, have been chosen to host the congress, due to the great interest of this area towards seismic problems (it was strongly damaged by the destructive 1980 earthquake) and to the strong contribution of the University of Basilicata to develop the knowledge of seismic problems in Italy. Its Structural Laboratory is now endowed with a large reaction wall and a powerful system for dynamic and pseudodynamic tests.

The President of the Organising Committee was Mauro Dolce, professor of Earthquake Engineering at the University of Basilicata and Head of the Structural Deparment. He organised the congress with the help of his colleagues and assistants of the Department, in agreement with the main directions given by the Scientific Committee of ANIDIS, whose President is Franco Braga, Professor of Earthquake Engineering at the University of Rome.

The technical part of the program was organised in 4 parallel session dealing with the following topics:

·     Seismicity and local amplification,

·     Foundations, retaining structures, tunnels and embankments,

·     Vulnerability and risk at different scales,

·     Vulnerability of constructions and of systems,

·     Seismic dynamics,

·     Numerical methods and models,

·     Structural identification and optimisation,

·     Dynamic characterisation of structures,

·     Masonry constructions: experimental tests, modelling, retrofitting techniques,

·     R/C constructions: experimental tests, modelling, retrofitting techniques,

·     Steel constructions: joints and element behaviour, structural response,

·     Passive control: seismic isolation and energy dissipation,

·     Active and semi-active control,

·     Seismic codes,

·     Case studies: damage analyses and design,

·     Case studies: seismic behaviour and retrofit of monuments.

About 250 participants attended the congress. The proceedings of the congress have been published on CD-ROM at the end of January 2002. They contain about 200 papers in Italian. An extended abstract in English (one full page) is also provided for each paper.

Mauro Dolce