Shear assessment of Della Vittoria stadium, Bari, Italy

Modern buildings are characterised by their use of reinforced concrete (RC) as a novel and versatile building material. In assessments of existing buildings, the most critical structures in terms of shear resistance are those designed in the first half of the last century, when RC theory and detailing rules were not then well established. This study considers the issues related to the gradual understanding of shear behaviour, with particular reference to buildings constructed in Bari, Italy in the period 1920–1960, and aims to emphasise the vulnerability at a territorial scale of structural typologies designed only to vertical loadings. Subsequently, the shear resistance verification of the structural elements of a typical frame of the stadium Della Vittoria, Bari, is investigated according to new Italian and American design codes and the recently proposed Arslan's equation. The results are compared with those included in the original calculation report (written according to a 1930 royal decree). The paper ends with a detailed commentary on lack of compliance with the ‘capacity design' philosophy.