Investigation results for the improvement design of the foundation rocks of the Amendolea Castle (Condofuri, Reggio Calabria, Italy)

The Amendolea Castle is in extreme degradation conditions set up to slip and to lateral spreading due to different factors such as the intense fracturing of crystalline metamorphic bedrock, the lack of interlocking foundations, the degradation of the walls, the imperfect forming of walls portions. The paper focuses on the results of the geomechanical survey and in situ investigations (geophysical prospecting and GPR, etc.) that allowed to classify the rock mass of the Amendolea Castle foundation as a class III rock mass according to the Bieniawski classification (Rock Mass Rating RMR, 1989). On the base of the obtained investigations results, the designing of the support systems of foundation rocks of the castle has been performed. The design involved works to bound the danger coming from narrow detachments and falls, such as steel nets with 5 m deep nails, and works to prevent the sliding along the inner rock mass, such as 12 m anchors.