This book presents a critical review of a criterion of risk, created to
assess the flood risk to heritage buildings, and evaluates this
criterion by applying it to the sample Portuguese heritage buildings. In
a first approach, the total number of potential parameters is
effectively reduced and the selected criteria are divided into two
different groups: the monument's location in relation to a waterway, and
the behaviour of its construction material in contact with water.
Above all, the book discusses the importance of architectural heritage
and argues for the need to safeguard it from extreme climatic phenomena
such as floods. As such, the book vividly reminds the scientific
community that the intensification of the global warming and climate
change will worsen throughout the 21st century, and that it is therefore
necessary to adopt preventive measures to minimize, mitigate and control
these adverse effects if we hope to avoid catastrophic consequences.
At the same time, the book takes into account a broad range of
scientific and engineering disciplines, such as civil engineering and
architecture, offering a synthesis of the current state of knowledge to
benefit and guide experts and practitioners in related fields.