Metrics details The paper presents a diagnosis of damage to heritage structures based on the case of the historic church in Kożuchów The Church of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary dates back to the thirteenth century and is an important sacral building in south-west Poland Renovation and strengthening works have been conducted in recent years with the goal of structurally stabilizing the heritage building The paper includes a short history of the building as well as a review of contemporary diagnostic methods used in heritage buildings with emphasis on the methods used in the diagnosis of the discussed object Correct diagnosis of the heritage building is the key to selecting an optimal design solution for supporting and strengthening the building structure Pre-design analysis was based on a geotechnical assessment of ground conditions identifying cracking patterns of walls and vaults preparing a digital model using Heritage—Building Information Modeling technology and performing structural analysis The main cause of cracking of the walls and vaults of the church is related to uneven subsidence and localized stability loss of the building’s foundations resulting from differentiated soil and water conditions beneath the building final conclusions and proposals for strengthening the structure were presented tie rods and Fibre Reinforced Cementitious Matrix systems Heritage buildings were built dozens or hundreds of years ago These interventions impacted also the static status of the structure this prevented a return to the original state of the structure in later years the recognizing of the common features relating to identifying the causes of damage and the most significant threats is possible The main causes of damage and significant threats faced by historical structures are as follows: reduction of material strength resulting from degradation caused by external environmental conditions (e.g All of these causes may affect the technical state of structural elements or entire building structures of historical objects they can lead to a dangerous threat to the safety of the structure what is even more adverse as the issue often refers to historic buildings that should be protected by all means This paper focus on the correlation between cracking pattern on masonry structure and heterogenous soil conditions One of the most important phases in the diagnostic process is the selection of the appropriate methods for investigation including pros and cons for each of them A listing of the testing methods used in case of church Kożuchów with characteristic, advantages and disadvantages is presented in Table 1 ground movements caused by differing soil structure underneath the building foundations and by differing physical and mechanical soil parameters building structures on ground of low load bearing character inadequate compaction (or lack of it) of soil during the construction work or faulty foundation work causing in consequence changes in the volume and strength of the supporting ground substrate changes in humidity caused by cyclical weather conditions (rain causing changes in soil structure and its mechanical properties growing vegetation drawing water from the ground and natural soil degradation processes vibrations and ground movement associated with nearby earthworks especially in the case of historic or heritage buildings possesses poor loading capabilities and is poorly compacted The most recent spectacular building failure was the collapse of columns and vaults in the Castle of the Pomeranian Princes in Szczecin The main goal of the conducted diagnostic works and structural analysis of the historic building is to prevent further damage and In the case of objects with numerous masonry cracks one of the probable causes are changes in physical and mechanical soil properties Proper analysis of the structure is possible if appropriate geometrical survey is conducted in order to recreate the technical documentation of the building The implementation of the model in H-BIM technology allows to perform 3-D analysis of the structure Only the combination of many diagnostic methods enables the correct assessment of the technical condition of the structure along with the selection of the optimal strengthening methods the aim of the paper is to demonstrate the correlation between the image of historic object damages and groundwater conditions The present corpus of the church is the result of several construction phases The early Gothic church had a two-part corpus The building was damaged in the great fire of 1339 which destroyed most of the buildings in Kożuchów Most probably only the stone walls survived The church was rebuilt between 1340 and 1369 This involved widening of the nave by 12.5 m pillars and gable walls were also demolished A porch was added on the west side and the nave was extended to the south and connected to the chancel through space made by breaking through the arcades in the wall In the second half of the fifteenth century the church was enlarged with addition of another three chapels and a porch to the southern nave Over the centuries the church was damaged by fire several more times (1488 Interventions were needed to repair the vaults (1554) and to rebuild the roofing (1764) the roof of the church was rebuilt as a gable roof over the main body and a gable and pulpit roof over the sacristy and chapels The church was covered with three parallel roof covers The tower was covered with a helmet in the form of an octagonal broken pyramid The war damage suffered by Kożuchów in 1945 spared the church the building is a late Gothic structure with added Renaissance elements (the vaults of the nave and the presbytery) and Baroque elements (the Ogrójcowa chapel Analysis of the resulting cracks may be an indication of uneven foundation subsidence which in turn may indicate heterogeneous ground conditions upon which the building rests The lithographic structure may comprise many layers and may be characterized by differing physical and mechanical parameters The issue described above concerns the situation in many historic objects built centuries ago in medieval towns where soil layers accumulated in succeeding years that design cross-sections of analyzed historic buildings (cathedrals the situation is more than likely that they extended over a diversity of soil and water conditions analysis of the cracking pattern of a heritage structure usually requires geological surveying at points surrounding the historic building in order to ascertain a full picture of the geotechnical status of the underlying substrate The key challenge lies in locating the bore holes and in determining the depth of the boreholes which can extend to tens of meters Flow chart of the methodology used in the church in Kożuchów Geometrical survey in the church: a measurement device b points definition for laser scanner measurement After the preliminary visual inspections, the range of geometrical survey was defined. All of the points were uploaded to the H-BIM software (Autodesk Revit) using additional software (Autodesk ReCap), that allows this transfer. Figure 4 presents an axonometric view of the church building. View of the digital model of the church in Kożuchów prepared in Revit Assessing displacement of the gable wall into Kościelna Street Ground-level plan of the church (with vaults) showing locations of geological sections drillings through the foundation walls (P) A dry drilling method without pipe casing was used for preparing the geological boreholes moisture content) was recorded on an ongoing basis and samples were collected for laboratory testing ensuring that the natural moisture content or natural granulation was assured Soil samples were taken to enable laboratory analysis to determine the physical–mechanical parameters of the ground substrate (on average 3 or 4 samples were taken from each borehole) Laboratory testing involved a sieve analysis of the collected loose soil samples whereas the condition of compacted soils was determined by testing the consistency limit and determining the moisture content Soil characteristics in specified geological boreholes The analysis the influence of soil and water conditions on the building foundation is possible on the basis of geological cross-sections obtained for different directions in relation to the ground-level floor plan of the building (Fig. 8). As a result of the core samples (vertical relative to the wall) the condition of the building’s foundation was determined for the eastern wall area The church structure was built on stone foundations placed at a depth of 0.60 to 0.70 m below ground level The south-eastern chapel was built at a depth ranging from 2.10 to 1.40 m below ground level The frost depth for the village of Kożuchów is 0.80 m which means that part of the foundations on the eastern side do not meet minimum requirements Existing foundations are set partly in substrate subject to displacement (fine grained dust and phyllosilicate clays) and sensitive to freezing and ground water level changes In the event of even slight water absorption they can plasticize rapidly under even a small load and reduce their load-bearing capacity The foundation wall of the church on the east side and the chapel is built with pebbles sandstone and brick on clay and lime mortar The content of clay in the mortar determines the mechanical properties of the wall (especially the modulus of elasticity) are variable for different moisture levels Taking into account the cracking pattern on the walls and vaults of the building and soil substrate that is sensitive to ground water level changes beneath the foundations it can be concluded that the foundations have sustained a loss of stability (related to both rotation and displacement) in the eastern wall of the church and the chapel in the south-eastern part of the building These foundations are displacing in both horizontal (outside) and vertical (settling) directions It was determined that the observed damage (cracking) was caused by uneven horizontal and vertical movements of the foundations arising from variations in geological substrate The cracking has been caused by: foundations that are too shallow periodic fluctuations in water level in weak load-bearing soils and soil loosening due to excavation It was necessary to strengthen the foundations of the church in the eastern part and in the south-eastern chapel to avert the threat of building collapse Church plan including cracks appearing on the walls and vaults Examples of cracks appearing on walls and vaults of the church Cracking penetrating the entire thickness of the cross-section was observed in the area of the southern nave and the adjoining chapels The cracking is concentrated especially in the area of the keystones of the window lintel arches in the upper part of the southern facade Diagonal cracking was observed in the rood arch which separates the southern nave from its extension towards the presbytery a deformation (twisting) of the rood arch from the vertical plane was observed the main nave consists of 4 bays covered by cross vaults Cracking was observed in line with the direction of compressive stress In the eastern part of the building, the cracking pattern of vaults indicates the occurrence of tensile stress along the external wall of the building. A typical vault cracking pattern resulting from exceeding tensile capacity in specific places in relation to the situation in the church in Kożuchów is presented in Fig. 11. Cracking patterns for cross-vaults: a typical b vaults in the eastern part of the church in Kożuchów During the diagnosis process, the influence of the load from the roof into church walls was checked. For this purpose, the 3-D roof data were uploaded from H-BIM model to structural software (Fig. 12). Various live load (wind) cases were considered to determine the predicted vertical reaction on the external walls. 3-D numerical model for structural analysis of the roof: a static scheme As a result of structural analysis, the values for reactions from the roof to the wall was determined (Fig. 13). The values of reaction forces from the roof which act on the external walls It was estimated that the internal stresses in the walls caused by horizontal forces from the roof are on the low level and do not have crucial meaning for the cracking appearance in the vaults but there was a need to add tie rod to ensure the stability of high top walls Plan of the church (with reference to the vaults) showing the foundation area proposed for strengthening Axonometric view of the church showing design for strengthening with jet-grouting columns and zones for tie-rod anchoring (left) Diagonal cross-section through the foundation zone (right) Axonometry of the vaults with strengthening introduced in the form of: a C-FRCM carbon fibre nets (marked green) H-BIM method is an advanced approach that allows to obtain detailed building and structural model and gives the opportunity to conduct a global analysis of the technical state and state of stresses It is strongly recommended to prepare the H-BIM model for heritage objects before any structural interventions especially in the case where the building structure is complex the contemporary H-BIM models allow to collect information about the previous and current interventions in one digital file what should be the principle in contemporary design processes it was estimated that the internal stresses in the walls caused by horizontal forces from the roof are on the low level and do not have significant meaning for the cracking pattern in the vaults there was a need to add tie rods to ensure the stability of high top walls Geotechnical research conducted at large scale (especially geological boreholes drilled to considerable depths) enabled the determination of soil properties in the area of the building’s foundations indication of the causes of cracking of the church structure The main cause of cracking of the walls and vaults of the church was related to uneven subsidence and localized stability loss of the building’s foundations resulting from differentiated soil properties beneath the building Every historical building requires its own individualized approach for diagnosis and selection of design interventions Based on diagnostic results including modern techniques it may be possible to plan appropriately and conduct conservation and strengthening interventions in historical buildings Typical masonry failures and repairs: a German Engineer’s view Non-destructive analysis in cultural heritage buildings: evaluating the Mallorca cathedral supporting structures Investigation strategies for the diagnosis of historic structures In: Emerging technologies in non-destructive testing V The stabilisation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa leveling and protection at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City Strengthening and underpinning of stone foundations of St international conference on soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering Restoration of historic buildings: conservation principles and structural assessment Investigation procedures for the diagnosis of historic masonries Comparative analysis of collapsing towers in Poland and Italy: different causes A review of heritage building information modeling (H-BIM) Understanding the structural behavior of historical buildings through its constructive phase evolution using H-BIM workflow Building information modeling and structural analysis in the knowledge path of a historical construction In: Structural analysis of historical constructions Historic building information modelling: performance assessment for diagnosis-aided information modelling and management Structural simulations and conservation analysis-historic building information model (HBIM) Int Arch Photogramm Remote Sens Spat Inf Sci Theoretical background and historical analysis for 3D reconstruction model Knowledge-based data enrichment for HBIM: exploring high-quality models using the semantic-web Less-destructive testing of masonry materials: a comparison between scratching and drilling approaches Mechanical characterization of historical masonry by core drilling and testing of cylindrical samples Application of sonic and radar tests on the piers and walls of the Cathedral of Noto A fractal approach for damage detection in concrete and masonry structures by the acoustic emission technique Damage monitoring of an historical masonry building by the acoustic emission technique Damage evaluation of three masonry towers by acoustic emission Use of sonic tomography for the diagnosis and the control of intervention in historic masonry buildings international symposium non-destructive testing in civil engineering 2003 (NDT-CE 2003) Acoustic tomography for evaluation of unreinforced masonry The use of georadar to assess damage to a masonry Bell Tower in Cremona GPR technique as a tool for cultural heritage restoration: San Miguel de los Reyes Hieronymite Monastery Ground penetrating radar (GPR): an application for evaluating the state of maintenance of the building coating Using multicomponent GPR to monitor cracks in a historical building Ground penetrating radar investigations for the restoration of historic buildings: the case study of the Collemaggio Basilica (L’Aquila Novel tomographic based approach and processing strategies for GPR measurements using multifrequency antennas Structural identification of a masonry tower based on operational modal analysis Zonno G, Aguilar R, Boroschek R, Lourenço PB. Environmental and ambient vibration monitoring of historical adobe buildings: applications in emblematic andean churches. Int J Archit Herit. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/15583058.2019.1653402 Vibration-based assessment of the tensile force in the tie-rods of the Milan Cathedral Experimental and numerical modal analyses of a historical masonry palace Monitoring of two great venetian cathedrals: San Marco and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Monitoring system of the Brunelleschi’s dome in Florence: intrepretations of the recorded data In: Structural repair and maintenance of historical buildings II Structural monitoring of the Mexico City Cathedral (1990–2014) Structural monitoring and integrity assessment of medieval towers An integrated diagnostic approach for the assessment of historic masonry structures Integrated methods for analysis of deterioration of cultural heritage: the Crypt of “Cattedrale di Otranto.” J Cult Herit Nicola di Mira: Conservation versus safety A combination of NDT methods for the restoration of monumental façades: the case study of Monte di Pietà (Naples Building damage associated with geotechnical problems Building information modelling and heritage documentation international scientific committee for documentation of cultural heritage (CIPA) Structural safety of buildings in excess values of differential settlements IOP conference series: materials science and engineering XXII Ogólnopolska Konferencja Warsztat Pracy Projektanta Konstrukcji Heterogeneous and continuous models: comparative analysis of masonry wall subjected to differential settlements Crack patterns induced by foundation settlements: integrated analysis on a renaissance masonry palace in Italy A multilevel approach for the damage assessment of historic masonry towers 1) Uszkodzenia spowodowane błędami projektowymi [Causes of damage to walls (part 1) Dissesti statici delle strutture edilizie: diagnosi istituzioni teoriche [Static instability of building structures: diagnosis In: Fracture and failure of natural building stones Beitragsserie: Schadenfreies Bauen mit Mauerwerk Thema 1: Zweischalige Außenwende - Risse durch zu große Verformungsunterschiede in horizontaler Richtung [Article series: damage-free masonry buildings Topic 1: two-shell exterior turn—cracks due to excessive deformation differences in the horizontal direction] Innen/Außenwende - Risse durch zu große Verformungsunterschiede in vertikaler Richtung [Article series: damage-free masonry buildings Inside/outside turn—cracks due to excessive deformation differences in the vertical direction] Kożuchów–historyczne miasto z przyszłością [Kożuchów—historical town with the future] Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Ziemi Kożuchowskiej Kożuchów [Cultural routes in Kożuchów commune] Kościół farny w Kożuchowie w świetle najnowszych badań Kożuchów [The church in Kożuchów in accordance to the latest research] Kożuchowski Ośrodek Kultury i Sportu “Zamek” Badania geotechniczne określające warunki gruntowo – wodne wokół kościoła pw z o.o [Geotechnical investigations determining the soil and water conditions around the church in Kożuchów] Download references Wroclaw University of Science and Technology KR; writing—original draft preparation: AK All authors have agreed to the published version of the manuscript All authors read and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no conflict of interest Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00516-1 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Plasteurope.com is a business information platform for the European plastics industry It is part of KI Kunststoff Information and PIE Plastics Information Europe one of the leading content providers for the European plastics industry We offer daily updated business news and reports polymer prices and other services for the international plastics industry News | Polymer Prices | Suppliers Guide | Jobs | Register | Advertising