Assessment of Flooding Risk to Cultural Heritage in Historic Sites
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 24, Issue 5
Abstract
Fluvial flooding in August 2002 affected a number of structures in the Czech Republic. Considerable damage was observed particularly in the historic city of Prague. Extensive investigations indicated that main observed causes of damage could be classified into geotechnical aspects, inadequate structural properties, and insufficient communication. After the flooding responsible authorities have considered permanent and temporary protective measures to reduce adverse consequences of flooding in the future. Decisions concerning expensive measures should be preferably based on risk optimization, taking into account potential societal and economic consequences and losses of cultural heritage values. General framework of the risk assessment is thus proposed considering specific issues of cultural heritage. Such an assessment needs a theoretical model suitable for predicting flows and extents of future floods. For that reason, the authors statistically analyzed hydrologic data for annual maximum flows of the Vltava River in Prague dating back to 1827. Pearson III and lognormal distributions seem to be suitable models for a considered sample. Estimations of extreme flows, needed for assessment of flooding risk to endangered sites and decisions on protective measures, are provided for different return periods.
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Acknowledgments
This study has been conducted at the Klokner Institute, Czech Technical University in Prague, within the framework of the research project assessment of historical immovables UNSPECIFIEDA/CZ0046/2/0013, supported by a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism, the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, and the Czech state budget. Comments and suggestions of reviewers that have improved the final manuscript are appreciated.UNSPECIFIED
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 24 • Issue 5 • October 2010
Pages: 432 - 438
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 28, 2009
Accepted: Dec 23, 2009
Published online: Dec 29, 2009
Published in print: Oct 2010
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