The combined use of IRT and LDV for the investigation of historical thin vaults

Correct interventions on cultural heritage should have as their starting point an accurate diagnosis of its health, in order to design a compatible care. NDTs seem to offer a promising way in this sense. This paper deals with the combined use of IRT and LDV for the investigation of historical thin vaults made by timber arches, reeds, and plaster and it demonstrates that they can effectively support a deeper knowledge of these vaults as it concerns the presence of detached areas among the different mortar layers of the plaster and of detached areas among the mat of reeds and the nailed connection with the wooden bearing elements. This is a very important goal because these ND methodologies can be employed only on the lower surface of these vaults and sufficiently far from it, and they do not have any mechanical interaction with the historical, eventually frescoed or stuccoed, plaster, thus saving money and time.