Le crepe are very topical these days in Emilia-Romagna and today in Bologna, at the Research to Business fair (in tandem with Smau Business), the research and innovation exhibition underway until tomorrow, tools were presented to detect their gravity during earthquakes.
The first is able to verify in real time the stability of the walls of a building after an earthquake; the second, connected to the other, is a wireless system, on a larger scale, which can monitor cracks and fissures in the buildings of even an entire historical centre.
To give life to such useful machines is the Interdepartmental industrial research center on building and construction of the University of Bologna – writes the Dire agency – pillar of the technopole and of the construction platform, which designed this system called Shm and which, applied to buildings, immediately detects damage from strong shocks: the system allows to obtain real-time data on stability of houses, schools and warehouses, before and after the quake.
The system was tested on the Manhattan bridge in New York, a structure subject to very strong vibrations caused by crossing the subway. The Province of Bologna has already given the green light to some pilot projects in schools and public buildings. To produce the system developed byAlma Mater is a company from Romagna, based in Lugo: Teleco, the European leader in mobile antennas for campers. The start-up Beesper, a spin-off of Henesis srl, instead works on wireless sensor networks. Among the applications there is this possibility of monitoring historical centers and evaluating the behavior to stresses and vibrations in real time.
Meanwhile, the biomedical companies of Mirandola are asking at least to be paid by their public customers and the Emilia-Romagna Region responds. The Giunta gave the green light today to 150 million to be allocated to healthcare companies to pay suppliers based in the areas affected by the earthquake. The Region itself communicates it. The provision is part of a series of actions in favor of the areas at the center of the earthquake, which also includes the exemption from co-payments for residents of the affected municipalities and primary assistance for displaced persons.
“Starting next week – writes the Region – the Healthcare companies will have to start paying, ensuring that everything due is covered. The terms of payment of administrative sanctions in hygiene-sanitary, occupational health and safety matters for the owners of production activities always operating in the Municipalities affected by the earthquake are also suspended". The measures adopted today last until 30 September 2012. "At that date an assessment of the situation will be made and any new measures will be adopted".
