Special Maintenance

Extra action is required with issues that may arise regarding precarious archaeological structures, and highly decayed decorative displays or modern roofing. This is the case with many structural problems, such as severely damaged walls or architectural structures, fragile walls at risk of collapse or detachment, wall decorations flaking off or crumbling, floor coverings detached or rising off the ground, and modern roofing damaged or no longer functional. There can be various causes for this damage including collapsing foundations, mechanical stress, the erosive action of environmental agents, and bad restoration techniques. However, in many cases the key factor causing the damage is the lack of a long-term monitoring and maintenance programme. Extraordinary corrective action aims at securing and limiting structural problems. Some such action would be the use of structural support equipment like props, buttresses, and scaffolds which allow the site to stay open. Special corrective action action may also include stabilising, integrating or substituting significant parts of walls or decorative displays, and the substitution or remaking of wood or reinforced concrete lintels, parts of the roofing or surfaces covering the extrados. Consolidating the excavation site plays a key role in securing the park. It helps mitigate the hydro-geological risk, which has always been one of the major problems in Pompeii. Better soil management and an adequate drainage system prevent ground movements and situations that can put the archaeological structures at risk.