Masonry chimneys were key elements of post-industrial factory buildings. Built on a large scale in Portugal from the nineteenth century, factory buildings have been in use until the beginning of the twentieth century, afterwards being progressively abandoned, transformed or demolished. During this degradation process, the industrial chimneys are often separated from other structures and become isolated elements, i.e. sculptures to the memory of the site's past activity. Moreover, although most of these industries and chimneys were located outside ordinary living areas, they are actually surrounded by dwellings or placed inside leisure areas. This new framework demands safety evaluations of the chimneys, which involve preliminary on-site surveys. This work shows the analysis of the geometric and material data from on-site surveys and dynamic identification procedures carried out on 10 industrial brick masonry chimneys. In particular, it establishes correlations between the chimneys geometrical and mechanical characteristics and proposes simple procedures to help designers to assess the safety conditions of these chimneys and evaluate eventual reinforcement needs. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Environmental loading of heritage structures’.

holds a degree of Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal, and is currently enrolled in an MSc in Structural Mechanics Applied to Civil Engineering (FEUP). He is Technical Adviser on heritage constructions in the structural domain under protocols with public and private institutions, namely the Regional Directorate for Culture of the North of Portugal (DRCN) within the Institute for the Management of the Portuguese Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IGESPAR). Jo ã o Miranda Guedes holds a degree of Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal; MSc in Structural Mechanics Applied to Civil Engineering (FEUP); PhD in Civil Engineering (FEUP). He is Assistant Professor at the FEUP and carries out research and practice on ancient stone masonry structures: maintenance and strengthening. He is Technical Adviser on heritage constructions in the structural domain under protocols with public and private institutions, namely the DRCN-IGESPAR. Esmeralda Paup é rio holds a degree of Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal. She is an engineer at the Construction Institute at the FEUP and is Technical Adviser on rehabilitation and strengthening on ancient structures. She has extensive work experience on expert inspections on recent and old buildings for public and private institutions, namely the DRCN-IGESPAR. Ant ó nio Ar ê de holds a degree of Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal; MSc and PhD in Seismic Analysis of Civil Engineering Structures (FEUP). He is Assistant Professor at the FEUP, teaching structural and seismic analysis topics. His research and practice mainly focus on both ancient stone masonry structures and contemporary RC structures, with particular emphasis on maintenance and strengthening. He was co-founder of and presently runs the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering (LESE) of FEUP. He often acts as Structural Technical Adviser on heritage constructions owned by public and private institutions. An í bal Costa holds a degree of Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), Portugal; MSc in Structural Mechanics Applied to Civil Engineering (FEUP); PhD in Civil Engineering (FEUP). He is Full Professor at the University of Aveiro, Portugal and carries out research and practice on seismic structural behaviour, on earth and stone masonry structures: maintenance and strengthening, with several articles published in these areas. He is technical adviser on heritage constructions in the structural domain under protocols with public and private institutions, namely the DRCN-IGESPAR.

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The research documents a building of great complexity, the former Salt and Tobacco State Monopoly Warehouse, abandoned for more than 30 years and, for its location, part of the historical center of Mantua recently added to the UNESCO sites. The investigation of the architectural complex included geometrical survey, analysis of the materials, of their decay, of the building technique and of the structural condition. An important step of the project is the evaluation of the building evolution, resulting from the different building steps, uses and ownerships, carried out through the stratigraphic survey of the fronts and the archive research. The aim is to identify potential weakness and vulnerability of the complex