A normative approach to the use of reused bricks in the built heritage restoration sector

Description

When dealing with the restoration of historic masonry, replacing degraded bricks is a common procedure. Bricks which are still in a good condition, and are used for restoration, may be provided by a seller specialised in recycled materials. However, with regards to restoration practice, no technical standard exists yet for assessing the quality and characteristics of recycled materials. Therefore, in practice, the material is usually replaced without any particular assessment and the selection of original bricks is commonly restricted to the dimension, appearance and colour patterns corresponding to the material to be replaced. Moreover, the traceability of the product does not exist (type of building,position,…), although it plays an important role in the whole process of carrying out compatibility assessments on existing masonry.

In order to objectify the selection procedure of recycled bricks, the research will focus on defining a method for the traceability of the product. In the framework of this normative approach, the study will be also concentrated on the quantitative evaluation of the state of preservation of samples by means of sclerometric tests. In this particular aspect, the researcher will identify acceptable tolerance thresholds for the optimal re-use of the material.